


Back to Back: Or, Zombies taste like crap

by JamesonR



Category: Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris
Genre: An OC who belongs to another fandom, Multi, and Settings from Game of Thrones, input from the Walking Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-05
Updated: 2012-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-30 16:27:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/333722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamesonR/pseuds/JamesonR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an ancient Queendom is threatened by walkers, her greatest warriors are sent out to deal with the hoards. But secrets require discovery as the truth of the Zombie origins are sought. And one warrior learns a great deal more about himself than he ever imagined. Trying to stay true to the SVM characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

This is my first shot at some kind of hybrid story. I am taking characters from The Southern Vampire Mysteries, from True Blood and inspiration from Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and so many other amazing stories. It is certainly an alternate universe sort of setting, so expect nothing and everything. I hope you find an escape in it the way I do. 

 

Back to back, we ended up that way far more often than I was comfortable with. Me with my longsword, Alcide with his daggers and his other attributes, faced off against another pack of undead marauders. You would honestly believe that these things multiplied like the rabbits Alcide hunted for sport when we were not tasked by the Queen with ridding the land of this latest menace. You might believe we were the only warriors at her disposal with the nights we gave her. I would acknowledge that we were certainly the most unique team she had in her service, if not the most effective. Our kinds did not mingle often, Vampires and Weres generally only stood in the same room when compelled to. For some reason I had taken a liking to this particular Were, likely because he was an effective warrior, and I could respect talent. I also appreciated his gift for scenting out the hoards, even before I could. It gave us an advantage over the other Vampire teams, his nose giving us warnings minutes before the others. Sadly, even though the decaying creatures stank to high heaven, a few minutes head start didn’t always save us from these damned situations.

My blade sang as it slipped through the skulls of the creatures who dared to venture close enough to me, and considering they were driven only by hunger and had no common sense to protect themselves, there were a great many who fell before me. That was the key to killing them, reducing their rudimentary brains to mush; a blade, an arrow, a well placed fist, even teeth in a pinch. But if you let them get that close to you, you were doing something seriously wrong. Their blood wouldn’t feed you, and it tasted like shit, so I tried to avoid that necessity by keeping my sword sharp, and my friend at my side. Alcide wasn’t so fussy. He wanted them in close, that’s why he preferred daggers. A kill was a kill for him, and being a supe like I was, the blood didn’t affect him the way it affected the humans in our Queendom. If they ingested the blood they caught the disease that killed and turned them. Alcide liked to transform and tear them to pieces. I couldn’t fault his effectiveness.

It was the transformations that had brought our Queen to action, or rather, had brought her to order us to action. Her food source, all her Vampire subjects’ food source was threatened. And really it trickled down to affect all the supernaturals in her realm. If the human population were decimated then ours would follow. And so we fought.

I heard Alcide behind me; he was not a quiet killer when he was enmeshed in the fight. I could almost feel the rumble of his growls disturbing the air around us. He would drive his daggers deep behind their eyes, tearing them free, covered in the gore of decomposing brain matter. I often wondered how anything in the corpses stayed patent after so many weeks of death. That was another good thing about Alcide, over a drink he and I would engage in the most interesting philosophical debates about how the Zombies could even survive to fight us as their external bodies rotted away. Not that we ever came up with answers. 

More bodies fell; at least the beings were quiet as they finally died. It was easier to hear Alcide, and to give and take directions about where to direct our blades. There had been thirty or so in this latest hoard, and while they had us surrounded for a few minutes, it was easier to kill them as they came in; four heads could fall in one swipe of a longsword as they all tried to take a bite out of you. I also had my speed to rely on. Alcide had a primal ferocity, and he didn’t even have to shift to his wolf form to draw on it. In fact, his half of the hoard fell with him still in human shape. His heavy breathing finally drew my attention as the last of mine collapsed into the horrid heaps that were left when the mind was finally separated from the body. I surmised that he was completed as well and so I turned to him. His face was bloodied, but the wide smile and the heaving chest betrayed just how happy he was. He wiped his daggers on his leathers and shook my offered hand.

“Damn good job man.” His voice still sounded wolf-like in its depth; perhaps he had changed a little after all?

“And you as well. Let’s get these bodies piled up and set alight, then we can get back home.” 

It was our tradition, once we had dispatched a hoard of the undead walkers, that we set a bonfire so that everyone in the countryside could see it and be heartened by a victory. I carried a skin of alcohol with me; that helped to get it started, and to cleanse wounds when it was required. It was funny how strangely they squealed and popped as they burned. As a human I had seen many cremations and I never recalled the bodies sounding like anything but timber. But of course, these Zombies were almost as far from human as you could get, present company excepted.

The smile on Alcide’s face didn’t change as we watched the mass burn. I held my own face more neutral, but of course I was older than he, and more in control of my emotions. I was proud of the work we had done, and I certainly enjoyed the warmth of the flames; my nature being generally cold. The dichotomy was not lost on me, that I was as dead as these creatures burning in front of me. But for some quirk of fate they had become mindless hunks of flesh where I had become eternally young, immortal and powerful. We both fed on the living, but I had the choice to start and stop, to kill or spare, and they had nothing but instinct. If I chose to ruminate on it it robbed me of sleep, so I gave it only a few moments at the time of each pyre. It seemed to be enough of a tribute to my maker, a monster in his own right, and to the universe.

“Wipe off your face, you’ll scare the women.” I tossed him a cloth.

“Maybe they’ll like it Eric.” He laughed as we began our walk back to the castle. “I’m a big hero you know.” And he beat on his chest.

“I am certain your bed won’t be empty this night. But clean yourself up anyways Alcide.”

“And what about you Eric? Will your bed be full tonight?”

“I have had no recent offers.”

“Because you always look so sullen. If you’d put on a smile once in awhile it might help. I could find you someone?”

“I don’t need your help to bed women, wolf.”

This was the banter that took us home. Alcide liked his women. I was, shall I say, more selective in my choices. 

 

The hearth fires still burned for us as we came into the warriors’ hall. We were not the last team to return from patrol, but we were also not the first. There were a few of the two natured nursing new wounds, Vampires healed quickly, but you could see the strain on the faces of some of the younger ones, drawing back goblets of blood to reenergize themselves from obvious bites. Feasting on humans was not allowed in the hall, an edict of the Queen. It only made sense, not everyone in the Queendom was privileged with the knowledge of the Vampires and the Two-Natured. The Queen understood that the people had enough worries with the monsters outside the walls. It was enough that they knew that she had an army that would fight against them. They didn’t know of her nature either, but she was very old, and could rise before the sunset and stay awake after it had risen: longer than I could, and I was almost 500 years old. It was a simple enough matter to hide her for those few hours a day when she needed to sleep.

The servants who attended to the warriors were specially selected, committed to a life within the palace, trustworthy to a fault, and rewarded handsomely. Some were there that night, roasting meat for the Weres and bringing the goblets for the Vampires, in that way we were more alike than not. They needed the rare meat, the heme iron for the protein, not terribly different than what my people needed. I preferred mine from the source. So, clapping Alcide between the shoulder blades, making him choke on his mouthful; I had intended that, I gave him a salute. He roared at me as if he was angry, which he wasn’t. Tonight was not the night for conversation, the other Vampires in the hall were eyeing me with disdain, because I chose to fight with a Were. They didn’t have the courage to tell me to my face. Perhaps that was the common sense the Zombies lacked. I was easily the oldest and strongest of them all. The Weres treated me with more respect, but that was out of deference to their Alpha. Vampires did not have an Alpha, though they fought for the Queen they acted only in their self-interest.  
I retired to my quarters, I needed to eat and I needed to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

I laid my sword down on the massive table that held its place near to the fire in my hearth. It was a solid thing, for reasons that will likely become apparent as my tale continues. But tonight it held the velvet wraps for my blade and the linen cloths I used to clean her. Before even shedding my own soiled garments I rubbed the blade down with linen, cleaning the gore from it, I flicked a shard of cervical spine onto the floor from where it was lodged in the hilt, along with the torn tendon of some sort. I checked the edge against the glow of the fire, my preternatural vision showing no nicks in the blade. I ran the steel over the edge with only a little force, honing it again and then checking its heft in both hands to ensure my ministrations had not set it off balance. I then oiled it down, rubbing along its length with another scrap of linen slowly, ensuring that every part of its surface was coated. Only then did I wrap it and carry it to my bed, where it rested, on my headboard, within easy reach. I then took the soiled scraps of fabric and tossed them into fire, watching as the linen raised a curious green flame; it always did. The scabbard was loosened from my side and placed close to the fire; not so close that the leather would dry and crack, but close enough that the effects of the weather would be dispelled.

Only then did I see to myself, doffing my night cloak and hanging it over one corner of the posts on my bed. I heard my door open a fraction and turned to it, not surprised, but rather expecting the company.

“You may enter.”

There was no hesitance behind the hand that pushed the door open. Nor was there any in the stride of the man who entered, I had left the door unlocked for him. He had been attending me since I had come to the service of the Queen.

“Eric?”

“Jankin.”

“I had only just heard of your return. I thought that you would spend more time the warriors hall this night.”

“I was not in the mood.”

“I will fetch water for you, if you give me a moment.” I nodded once and he disappeared. I turned back to the fire. I didn’t need the warmth, but it pleased me none-the-less. Such creature comforts were beyond my needs, I could and would sleep in the earth when required. Walking hours in the damp did not weaken me, or cause blisters on my feet from sodden boots. It was the same way with Alcide. The man would walk barefoot over the terrain of the woods and fields, and laugh while even some of the younger vampires complained. They were too close to their humanity for my liking. Good swordsmen, all of them, but Alcide was more like me, a hunter to the core. Of course, all that did not diminish the fact that I did enjoy a soft bed and warm water when it was available. Jankin returned with two buckets of water. He did not lack strength this man and he poured one into a brass tripod, setting it amongst the coals to warm. 

“Give me your shirt.” He held out his hand, it was his ritual, something we had done after almost every hunt. I pulled off the coarse weave and tossed it to him. He wrinkled his nose at the smell; it was not nearly so bad as other nights, when I had been truly coated in the rot. I began to splash myself with the remaining cold water.

“Eric! Patience!” He ladled some of the boiling water into the cold. “You skin will tear.”

“And it will heal again.” I took his offered cloth and dipped it in the now not so cold water and wrung it out, running it over my face and neck. It did feel good, to have the dust and ash of the night off of me. I continued over my arms as Jankin added more hot water. He held his hand out for the cloth and I handed it to him as he walked behind me and ran the water over my shoulders and down my back. I closed my eyes as he did it and traced the path of every rivulet over my skin. It was different than standing naked in the rain or under an icy waterfall, both of which I had done, as Vampire and mortal. It was, I closed my eyes, pleasant. 

“Give me your trousers.” I unbuckled the belt and let the suede drop to the stone floor, and stepping from the mass Jankin collected them, bundling them with my cloak and shirt. He would take them to the laundresses, who would wash what they could and beat the rest out on the lines in the courtyards. They were always returned to me, tears mended, buckles and buttons replaced, zombie guts scraped away. I never inquired as to who did that job, but because of the danger I expected that it was Jankin. While he was not Vampire or Were, he was supernatural in his own right, and therefore immune, not that he spoke of it to me or anyone. I gave him the courtesy of not asking questions; even though I could taste the fairy blood in his veins. He was not pureblood, I knew that much. If he had been full blood he would never have dared come to a Vampire Queendom; but somehow he was protected from the advances of the young ones, and whatever spell it was he had to disguise himself from them, it also kept my hunger at bay, and that of the Queen. Of course, being my servant gave him a great measure of protection from any advances.

I finished washing myself and took the clean linen shirt he had laid out on my bed. The crisp feeling against my skin after the soft warmth of the water made me feel alert again. Jankin had taken the wash water and removed it from the room, destined for the sewers, he had also bundled the laundry and placed it outside my door along with the buckets. Only when it was all tidied did he bolt the door behind himself and come to stand with me in front of the fire.

“You are hungry.”

“I am.”

He began to unbutton his shirt, pulling the sleeves off to leave it dangling around his waist as he dropped to his knees before me. 

“Thank you Jankin.” It was barely a whisper as I came down before him, putting my hand, fingers splayed on his neck, turning his head away from me. He no longer flinched as my fangs dropped, the first few times he had, but now it was just another intimacy we shared. I brought my lips to the pulsing artery and pushed my teeth into the flesh, the ruby liquid flooded into my mouth and I could not suppress the moan of absolute joy at tasting it. His hands came up to rest at my hips as I drank. If I could not already hear the beat of his heart, the pressure of his hands on my flesh gave me another gauge to stop. I never took enough to hurt him. 

When I finished he laid his head on my shoulder, fatigued by my feeding and the lateness of the hour. I held him there against me, as I stabbed my finger and dotted the puncture wounds, watching them close. The blood gave me a euphoria, but his simple being gave me a comfort only one of his kind could do for a Vampire.

Once his heartbeat had paced itself properly again he pulled away from me and rocking back on his heels, replaced his shirt.

“Do you need anything else from me this night Eric?” The words came slowly, making me doubt his healing.

“I do not.” I paused myself, “Do you need anything from me Jankin?” 

“No.” His answer came with his usual grace, and a hint of sadness.

“Go home to your wife Jankin.”

I said it every night as he left me; we both knew he had no wife to return to. He was a denizen of the palace, and like the others, stayed within its walls unless duty called him out. His answer to me was to stand, and brush his hand over my head in some kind of benediction.

“Sleep well.” He unlocked the door and left me.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

I had barely settled myself against the headboard when there was a faint knock at my door. I swung my legs out to the floor again, wondering what had brought Jankin back, he had seemed more pensive than normal that night, he usually took my jabs considerably better than he had; he reminded me of Alcide in that way in fact. But his blue eyes had not been as alive as normal; they stood out against his dark hair in a way that could not fail to draw attention; but not this night. I did not normally worry for people, but Jankin was different, his fairy nature, (that he did not think I knew about,) was likely the cause for my out of character concern. Just the proximity to Fairies could heal a Vampire from mortal poisoning, that innate aura could even affect the old ones. I was pleased that he had returned as I went to greet him.

“Jankin?” I opened the door, but it was not he standing there, but rather a she. 

“Hello?” I offered to the newcomer.

“Good evening.” She bowed her head demurely for someone was wasn’t exactly the most elegantly built girl. She was comely, don’t misunderstand, but she had solidly built arms, and hips, and a bosom that sort of vibrated as she spoke, not quite the dancer physique, but a woman who could get things done, a lot of things it seemed. I vaguely recalled seeing her around the castle on other occasions, but generally in the company of the Weres. And then it began to make sense why she had arrived.

“May I help you?” I asked, though I had a fairly decent idea what she was there for. Damned Alcide.

“The Captain of the Weres has asked me to attend to you this evening good Sir.”

“Has he now?” I raised an eyebrow, half of my mind working on a plan to exact a proper revenge on Alcide, the other half looking her over, none too subtly. And that made her smile. “You had best come in then.” I stood back and ushered her in with my outstretched arm.

Her walk was determined, she didn’t scan my room for any dangers but strode in as if she owned it, or at least was quite in charge of it. She turned back, waiting for me to close the door, practically compelling me to do it with her deep brown eyes. So I did. For the time it quite amused me to do so.

“You know what I am don’t you?” I asked.

“I do,” she paused with a grin on her lips, “you are a hero.”

It wasn’t quite what I had meant.

“If not for you and your men, and those of Captain Alcide, my home and my kin would have been overrun by the undead by now. So you are a hero.”

She certainly did have a way of endearing herself to a person as she brought herself quite close to me. Pulling the laces on her bodice didn’t hurt matters either, her large breasts falling naturally against the cotton of her shift.

“How may I thank you properly sir?” She asked with a grin that was none too innocent.

Well now, a few thoughts came to mind just then, which is just what Alcide had in mind I imagined. I swept her up in my arms and laid her down on my bed. There really was no need for her to tease me and undress further. I lifted her skirts, listened to her giggle, and then drove myself into her depths with great gusto. She knew how to move, she knew how to do a great many things, and despite my earlier insistence to Alcide that I did not need the company he had provided, she was a pleasant distraction. She knew just when to moan, and just when to buck her hips against my thrusts, her motions against me were very pleasing. The soft globes of her breasts received ample attention from my hands as I built within her, and then from my mouth as I came, and took the mounds to fulfill my other needs. Her laughter was a very different sound within the walls of my room. And her warm hands wrapping my back as I fed were also a delightful treat, not that I was about to admit any of that to Alcide.

 

When we were done, she tidied herself up quite efficiently, smiling at me the whole time. I have to admit wearing a bit of a smile myself. I had fed, twice, and though her blood was not as delicious as Jankin’s the accompanying activity certainly had its pleasures. All in all, it had been a reasonable night; some carnage, some coitus and some blood and by the time she left the sun was nearly ready to rise, and I was tired enough to sleep, dreamlessly, which was pleasant in itself.

**

Jankin had returned my things, cleaned as they always were before the sunset, I had sensed his arrival, but had not fully wakened. I knew he was watching me; perhaps his senses were sharp enough to smell the lingering scent of sex that hung on the linens of my bed. He seemed to hang back in the room, but sometimes that was his way, when he fell into his moods, the ones of silence, he would take his time, no less efficient, but prolonged. He lit my fire, left me water to warm, and finally closed my door silently. I lay for another hour, pondering my situation, until the fire required further fuel lest it die down. It was a throwback to my humanity, keeping the fire lit, and I watched the flames lick at the new wood, thinking about what this new night would bring. A new hunt, perhaps finally some answers? It was easy enough to fight these creatures as they lumbered across the Queendom, they were stupid, and mindless, and really only dangerous in hoards, but we still had no idea where they were coming from.

The castle sat nearer to the coast, on the westernmost edges of the Queendom, easily defensible by sea, and an accessible port for bringing in goods from abroad. The sea did not provide a great deal in the way of fish, not enough to create an industry, but enough to provide an addition to the peoples’ simple diet of grains, and fowl, and the occasional larger beast, those usually brought in by the Were hunters, at least now that the Zombie threat had risen. I had not been the only one to notice that the fishermen remained virtually unmolested, but it made sense, the Zombies certainly did not arrive by boat. No, they lumbered across the farmers’ fields and the forests, menacing the populace. I wanted to make the journey, to see what lay at the fringes of the realm, but the hoards demanded more of our attention, and the Queen was not yet prepared to give us the leave to go. I continued to defer to her wishes. No one could understand how they kept coming, especially since fewer and fewer seemed to be the citizens of our villages. Our patrols certainly had to be a major part of that fortunate happenstance, but whatever population was being decimated was unknown to us.

As I pondered all of these things, in front of the flames, I felt a sudden weariness settle on my shoulders, the repetition was getting to me, and I wondered if it wasn’t time for some type of change. And so I dressed and went out to the hall, intending to distract myself from the questions by looking over the maps of the day and any recent intelligence reports. Action always settled my disquiets.

Alcide was waiting for me, a stupid grin on his face as I entered the room. I did not meet it, and simply went to the table that was always set up for me. 

“So Eric?” he goaded me, “Did you meet my friend Maizie last night?”

“Was that her name?” I asked casually. “I didn’t get a chance to ask.” He laughed, straight from his belly; I kept my eyes on the table and the maps.

“Well, I shall have to go and see her myself tonight and hear all about it.”

“You may want to give her a day or two to recover.” I said, as deadpan as I could manage. He laughed again, and smacked me on the back. 

“Ah Eric.”

“I am quite serious.”

“Of that I have no doubt my friend.”

“And what have we heard this day?” I wanted to be right into work, for some reason I still felt unsettled, the feeling from in front of the fire had not dissipated. Alcide seemed disappointed that I did not wish to spar with him just them.

“Perhaps I will next have to send Maizie and her sister.” He mumbled. I gave him a laugh for that one. It lightened the mood, I was willing to give him that. He set in to telling me about the day’s intelligence reports, which continued to be meager.

Hoards had been noted from the east again, a few stragglers from the north, but it seemed that they might have broken off from the initial group, they had a pitiful sense of direction if that sense could even be ascribed to them, and if they happened to get caught up in a thicket, or muck, or even one of the mortal makeshift traps, like the pits they dug, they could be separated and end up either stuck and hungrier, or wandering off in any which way. Once again no local persons were recognized, and in a good day, none had been lost. 

A group of handymen had been dispatched to an outlying farm, to reinforce a fence to ensure that a flock of goats remained safe in the night; not everyone could afford a barn to house their animals in the evening, when the watchmen and bowmen could not be counted on for their accuracy in spotting the walkers. The Queen was quite vigilant in keeping her subjects protected. They had reported the straggler, who had been beheaded and burned on the spot. These daylight teams also dealt with the walkers who had been trapped and reported, when the villagers or famers were unable to. Though those farmers were getting better. Necessity had turned frightened mortals into angry ones, and pitchforks and scythes made effective weapons. Often our teams simply found the bodies to burn, the mortals dared not deal with the blood.

“And what do you think about all of this Alcide? Where do your instincts tell you we need to go?”

He pointed at a natural ridgeline, one that swept downwards into a canyon instead of upwards. 

“I have often wondered if these creatures are able to ford this gap, or if they are running parallel to it. It would seem to be a natural barrier, so they have to be coming from beyond it somehow.”

“So you would send troops to the north and south of it?” I gestured along the hand drawn map.

“And some directly into the middle.” He stuck his finger right over the sepia line that demarcated the change in topography.

“I see. And may I assume that the troops going straight down its throat would be you and I?”

“You could.”

“I like the way you think Alcide. Shall I go and present this to the Queen?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

Suddenly I felt just a little more alive.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

The throne room was longer than wide, with a great tapestry at the farthest end in the Mille-Fleurs style of the lion rampant with the unicorn to meet it. Each was in a gold collar, on a field of azure blue, a verdant tree behind and between them. Fleur de Lis made up the border. Eric did not know if it had any special significance to the Queen. He suspected it must, especially seeing the pronounced fangs on the lion; she did very little for vanity’s sake only. She was wise and ancient and not a fool, she did not dare expose hidden secrets of her race directly, so it was quite possible, if he took the time to examine it more closely, that the true meaning would become clear. She had employed the most brilliant of the Flemish weavers to create it; that much was obvious. It was a beautiful piece, even without an overt story. It was flanked by bronze torches, their flames held in check in metal cages which blazed against the stone, casting shadows he could see beyond, and she could, but that were otherwise mystical to the humans who served her in that expanse.

He had requested the audience of her chamberlain, a small man, desperately efficient, who had been with her for hundreds of years, a fraction of her true age. He had tattoos around his arms and on his chest; Eric could see them when his tunics or the darkness did not cover them. Though he looked young, he certainly was not, one could tell that when he spoke. His words were slow and measured, and every response to a question was thoughtful. Though he likely had a great deal of power; from sharing the blood of the Queen (because Eric supposed that they had bonded in some fashion, it only made sense seeing how she needed to depend on him), he did not play the warrior. Quite the opposite in fact. 

Godric had been pleased to admit Eric to the audience. His position as the Sheriff of the Vampire legions had apparently earned him some play with Her Majesty. So had his loyalty. And as he approached the throne, set practically behind a large table where the lady had her own papers and maps and the goblet of blood that still vaguely steamed in the cool of the room, she was there waiting for him.

“Your highness.” He bowed on one knee, at a respectful distance and bent his head to her.

“Eric, your presence is most welcome.” Her voice was powerful, resonating against the stone walls, even though the volume itself was sedate.

With her words he was given leave to stand, and so he did, still remaining at the same distance from her, slightly loath to get closer because he knew he likely still smelled of Jankin’s blood; and while the man might have a spell to disguise himself from the others, Eric could not guarantee that he could keep the ancient Vampire before him from sensing it.

“Godric tells me that you have a proposal for me?”

“I do my Lady. A stratagem that the wolf Alcide and I have devised, in hopes of finding more information about the origin of the plague on your lands.”

“Then I am most interested in hearing about it. Please do approach and tell me more.” Eric understood the sincerity in the Queen’s voice, she was a good ruler, to all her subjects, an example for a future he thought, when humans would know the truth about Vampires.

Eric took a few more steps forward, keeping the table between himself and the Queen, gauging her reaction. 

“We wish to mount an expedition to the valley lands, to ascertain from which direction the hoards arise.”

“An interesting thought.”

“But of course we would need men, and we would be gone for many days as the journey is not likely to be a quick or simple one.”

“You would have Weres then I suppose?”

“I would not ask my brethren to sleep in the earth, I know it is distasteful to many of them, given the luxury you provide for us all here.”

She clucked her tongue in her mouth, and grinned a little smile with the left corner of her lips. 

“Yes, they have forgotten the old ways. But not you Eric, you remember the crypts and the graves don’t you?”

“And I have no aversion to them.”

“And Alcide will travel with you then, during the night hours?”

“He will. He is used to hunting with me in the dark. It is our preference.”

“A challenge to be certain.”

“But a necessary one we believe.”

“And I agree.” She stood from her throne and walked around the large oaken table, coming to stand very close to him. He did not flinch, and she made no moves to indicate that she could sense anything amiss in his blood or on his person. Relief flooded him, but he kept it just as hidden as the previous concern. “So tell me what you propose?” She turned back to the table and unrolled a hand-copied and yellowed map of the Queendom, holding it down by means of little bundles of sand at each corner. 

Eric traced his finger along the ridgeline demarcating the valley, demonstrating where he and Alcide had thought it would be best to send reconnaissance parties, and of course, their route, straight down the maw of the thing. He could feel the Queen’s eyes as much following the track on the map as the finger that traced it, and he began to worry that perhaps he had misjudged her interest in him. Her fingers on his shoulder made him want to jump, but he held himself in check, and fortunately, with no breath to hold, he was able to continue seamlessly.

“Whatever lays beyond it, must be the source of the walkers.” Eric did not make eye contact with her, but instead, stared at the map, as if by doing so he could make the thing materialize. 

“I must concur, in the face of no other reasonable explanations.” The queen walked away from him, lacing her hands behind her back, as she stepped back around the table, her eyes on the tapestry. “Assemble your teams and give the lists to Godric of what you will require, he will see that your needs are packed and ready for you in two nights time. Is that enough?”

“More than enough Your Highness.” Eric bowed again as she turned around to face him.

“I look forward to your return. Bring me news, and bring me answers Eric.”

“I intend to your Majesty.” Eric took a few steps backwards and then turned himself and strode from the hall, slightly amazed that it had gone so well. 

ooOOoo

Alcide had almost shown a bit of his own fang, he had been so excited by the prospect of getting out of the castle on a full, proper hunt. As much as he felt the rush, each time he made his kills, the repetition was beginning to wear on him, just as it was on many of the supernaturals in the Queens’s service. He didn’t feel that it would be difficult to recruit six or so other Weres to accompany them: even if it did mean travelling with a Vampire. He grinned as he spit that one out. It earned him a hiss from Eric, but nothing serious. The Vampire was just as pleased, even if it meant travelling with a malodorous pack of wolves. They were even.

“I need very little by way of supplies,” he told Alcide, which was true. He was certainly old enough to go several days without blood, especially if he fed well over the next two nights; the previous had been an excellent start. “But if you make your list I will take it to the Chamberlain.” Eric was well aware that Godric inspired a discomfort in the Weres, more than any of the other Vampires. His relationship to the Queen, his physical appearance that made him look more boy than man, and the vicious nature he hid under a serene demeanor and slow, exaggerated movements, all combined to set everyone’s senses on edge. While he was not completely certain of the man and his motives, Eric had no fear of facing the man.

“Fair enough.” 

“You can find me later, I shall likely be in my quarters then.”

“Shall I send Maizie again?”

“Certainly not.” 

And Eric walked away from the Were so he did not have to look on his growing smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

We did not go out hunting that following night. I stood with Alcide as he went to the great hall and spoke with the Weres about the impending expedition. The few Vampires who were there watched me from their shadows, but none of them made a move to volunteer. I was not surprised. As I had told the Queen, they were too fond of willing donors and soft beds, and easy prey for their fangs and nails. I had made the offer, and that was all that was required of me. I actually preferred the independence I had not to order their service. Six Weres stepped forward, anxious to prove themselves to Alcide and the Queen, though perhaps they needed further challenges to satisfy their youth, or were simply growing as bored as I?

Alcide had them all make up the lists of the weapons and supplies they wanted, fortunately a short and simple one; but an opportunity to add to their personal arsenals. I took it to the chamberlain’s quarters, where Godric looked it over thoughtfully, counting out numbers on his fingers as I watched him. Only when he had finished his silent tally did he look up at me.

“And nothing for you Sherriff?” He cocked his head.

“I need only my blade.” I kept my answers short.

He nodded and looked away from me again, as if I was a simple annoyance; but of course I knew it was calculated.

“The Queen has asked me to give you this.” He went into his desk and removed a glass phial. It was easy to see what it held, even though he paid it no overt reverence.

“She offers me her blood?” 

“She does.” There was no smile.

A chill ran the length of my spine. The implications were enormous. It was a powerful elixir, even in the small quantity that she had provided me, and would no doubt increase my prowess and sate my hunger for a great many days. It was an unparalleled gift. But to take the blood of another Vampire, and one so ancient came with costs. I did not wish to be in her service forever, or to have her aware of my future movements. To take her blood was nearly a pledge of eternal loyalty to her, because she would certainly be within her rights to request mine. And to share blood would certainly secure a bond, one not easily broken. She knew this as well as I did; and I did not doubt her cunning, or dismiss it. Perhaps she did want me in her service for a Vampire eternity? Godric was holding the phial out to me and I know that he understood my hesitation, and was annoyed by it. He was in the Queen’s service, and his motivation for sharing her was not altruistic, of that I was certain.

I bowed my head, and took the offered glass. Enclosing it in my hand carefully.

“Please offer my sincere thanks to the Queen.”

“You will not take it here?” He asked me.

“To drink is a matter of some privacy to me. I am certain that you understand.”

He did not appear to, but he gave me the leave to pocket it, I showed enough reverence for his taste apparently. He promised that the supplies would be waiting in the hall by mid-morning at the latest, ready for the Weres to inspect and pack, as they desired. He inquired again as to whether I was certain that I needed nothing, a new blade, a sturdier cloak? I repeated that I was well set. I preferred the blade I had, it had been with me for centuries, and my care for it kept it perfect. I did not need the luxury of anther cloak; mine was perfectly fine; better than that in fact. It was as comfortable on my shoulders as the sword was in my hand. I was put in mind just then of the way Jankin handled it for me. It almost made me want to smile, though I did not, not in front of Godric. For as well as he disciplined himself, I knew what lay under his skin. His tattoos had been a clue to his age, and every so often a gesture or a word gave away his origins in barbarism even older than what many would call my own. He would kill me just as easily as he would dine with me, and so I watched him carefully, as carefully as I had the Queen, waiting for the recognition of the fairy blood in my system, waiting for the recognition of any weakness. Especially given this new gambit on their parts. For all I knew, the blood in the phial could be his, and it frightened me a little more, the thought of being under his watch in such an intimate way. I did my duties, and bowed to him, and then retreated to my suite; conscious of having avoided what could have been a very difficult situation.

I had expected my rooms to be empty, but was surprised when I opened the door to a crackling fire, and to Jankin, sitting on the corner of my bed, laying out linen shirts.

“Good evening.” I could not help but wonder at his appearance, as if he had somehow sensed that he had crossed my mind. But of course, I was likely over thinking the situation, still unnerved by Godric. I took the phial of blood out of my pocket, and set it on the mantle.

“I am told you are going on a quest of sorts Eric.” His blue eyes followed me as I walked.

Word travelled very fast it seemed.

“I am. I am tired of this never-ending task, hunting each night, making no headway in solving the problem. It is time to end this.” The candid outburst about my feelings was out of character but appropriate. He was, besides Alcide, the closest thing I had to a friend. (Not that I made a habit of counting such things).

“And when will you be departing?” He patted my folded shirt in an odd sort of way.

“As the sun sets tomorrow.”

“Then I will make myself ready.” And he stood, prepared to make his way to the door but for me stopping his progress, surprised at his statement.

“You are not coming Jankin.” I was actually quite shocked at the idea, I had never even considered it, and I prided myself on looking at all aspects of a situation (when time permitted of course), before choosing my course of action. He had never factored into it.

“Of course I am.” He announced, all traces of the pensive, silent Jankin suddenly gone. It was the boldest Jankin I had ever known, and I began to suspect that somehow I had been played. He attempted to move past me, but I sidestepped him and put a hand out on his chest to still him.

“This is a task for warriors.” He looked from my fingers to my face without changing the serious expression in his eyes.

“You doubt that I know of swordplay Eric?”

“I am beginning to doubt a great many things I know about you Jankin.”

“One thing you should never doubt Eric is my resolve.”

“There is a chance that we will not return Jankin.”

“Then more’s the reason I should accompany you.”

“I cannot guarantee your safety.”

“I have not asked that of you.” 

I don’t know why I felt the need to argue with him so forcefully just then. I suppose I could have tried to glamour him, but then again, his fairy blood might have precluded its effectiveness. It seemed like I had to convince him of the merits of my point of view, and he fought just as hard against it.

I finally stepped away from him, throwing my hands up in frustration. I expected that he would take the opportunity to leave, but he did not, actually coming to stand beside me as I stood in front of the fire he had kindled. I stared at the phial of blood, wondering when my autonomy had slipped away.

“What is that?” He asked, his voice back to the quiet, half whispered one I was used to.

“The Queen has asked me to take her blood.” It seemed the time for a great sigh, but I was well out of practice. Jankin seemed to fill in for what I lacked. 

“And will you?” Our private relations seemed suddenly more intimate than ever before.

“Not if I have a choice.” I whispered, transfixed by the wax stopper, the seal on it was the Queen’s but of course, Godric had control of it.

“If you would but turn your back I can relieve you of the decision.” He reached for the phial but I stopped him by putting my hand over his, not cruelly, but with force enough.

“Not yet.” I think he understood by the way I looked at him that I was not angry, quite the opposite in fact; the swell of gratitude for the man I was just beginning to know was great, he risked a great deal on my behalf.

“I am always at your service Eric.” The words were a continuation of the benediction of placing his hands on my head the previous evening. And just as he had at that time, he gave me pause. I pulled my hand back from his slowly, marveling in the warmth of it against my cold flesh. It was no different than any other time he had touched my skin, but yet it was.

“You should drink then Eric.” He made to pull away his collar.

“No, not if you are to come with me. You will need your strength Jankin.”

“You will not harm me Eric.”

“I will not take that chance.”

“Shall I send in the serving girl again?” Ah, so he had known of the gift Alcide had sent to me.

“No. I do not desire that type of company.”

“Then allow me to at least fetch a pitcher for you.”

“I can attend to that Jankin. Go home to your wife,” I paused, “and tell her that I am sorry for what I am about to lead you into.” He nodded at me with a sad smile, different than previous ones, there were still a great deal of unspoken thoughts behind it, but there was also a grim resolve, one that I knew I would need to explore more fully. 

After he had left I allowed myself to truly feel the overwhelming sense of dread that had suddenly settled over an adventure I had only recently been anticipating.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hunting we will go.

Jankin had returned to me a few minutes after the sunset. Finishing the packing of a few clean shirts into a sac for me, likely along with his own more mortal needs as I took care of my own dressing. He had a scabbard slung across his left hip and I could see the dull bronze gleam of the quillion, tang and grip. It seemed he did have a weapon, and one that looked as old, though finer than my own.

“May I?” I asked, completely absorbed in my curiosity as to the type of blade a half-fairy would have at his side. It was a welcome distraction from a day of forced sleep and anxiety that poked at me even through the veil. There was pride when Jankin drew it from the black scabbard, not that you would have seen it on his face. It was in the heft of his shoulders and back. He presented it for my inspection at what seemed an odd angle, balanced on the widest of a pair of flat sides. I had never seen construction like it.

“It is very sharp Eric.” He warned me, and so I took it by the hilt only, his right hand relinquishing the warm metal to me. As I let my eyes run across the blade I could see that it most certainly was. 

The blade was four sided, like a diamond, tapered from the base to the tip so that it ended almost like a rapier. Each point of the diamond was honed to a perfect edge with the facets flat, a fuller struck into the same wider flat portions that he had laid it out on. It seemed a solid piece of metal, which I had believed impossible, but yet the tang and grip blended to the blade and guard seamlessly. I turned it over and then tested its flexibility with a sharp flick of my wrist. The lower end flowed like a sharpened whip and I could not help but grin at the genius of its construction. It was a slashing weapon, a stabbing weapon and a flexible foil all at once. I handed it back to him in just as careful a manner.

“It meets your approval?” He asked, looking into my face.

“More than that Jankin. It is an exquisite weapon.” I could not help but smile because of its beauty.

“It was my father’s.” He had never spoken of his family before. I wondered if his father then had been the Fairy of the pair, and his mother the mortal. 

“A proud legacy then.” I offered; understanding then that the man he referred to was dead. “Pray that it serves you well on this adventure, and that you cleave the heads of many enemies with it.”

He nodded, eyes bright. It seemed that he had a specific enemy in mind just then, and I was certain, as I had been the evening before, that he knew far more about what lay beyond the gorge than anyone else did. 

“You will tell me his story one day, I hope?” I meant his father, but I was curious about the suspected ‘other’.

“I will Eric.”

I believed him. And part of me knew that the tale was going to come sooner rather that later. I girded on my own sword and tucked a pair of deerskin gloves into my belt. Jankin had a cloak of his own over his left arm, and added mine to it. With only a serious glance passing between us we left my room and found the others waiting for us at the portcullis. 

Alcide eyed Jankin from the corner of his eyes as we approached. I could hear some amongst the others whispering that I was such a pampered lot that I needed to bring a servant along with myself since I surely wasn’t capable of managing in the woods on my own. Biting back my anger at the mostly silent accusations I took the cloak Jankin offered (knowing the gesture did nothing to dispel their assumptions). It did, however, offer me the chance to adjust my own longsword, and Jankin his own, shorter but no less lethal blade. Its appearance quieted some of the muttering. It was certainly obvious that it was no practice blade borrowed from the armory. 

“Good to have another arm with us.” Alcide declared for all his men to hear as he slung on his pack. He had no intention of being divided so early on in our journey. (Alcide always did choose to see the best in people I had noticed. For better, and more often for worse.) He led the way from the castle; the guard at the gate shut it behind us. The hollow sound as the bars collided with the dirt caused some of the Weres to glance back, others to start in their leather boots, but not myself, or Alcide, or Jankin I noticed. We three, Jankin pulling his cloak over his head, were set on our way.

ooOOoo

We walked in silence most of the night, conversation often distracted, and masked the sounds in the darkness that we needed to be aware of: those of the shambling walkers. We ran across a small band of them, though none of us even had to draw a blade to dispatch them. Some of the younger Weres who had chosen to travel in their four-legged form took them down with glee, if a wolf could be said to have a gleeful appearance under all that fur and behind those teeth. There was no safe place to burn them without setting a forest fire, so I dug a pit and they were tossed inside. The scent of rot alone would keep any true animal scavengers away, and the villagers knew better than to dig up any mounds they discovered. Our journey continued.

About two hours before reaching the gorge proper, and an hour before sunrise our groups split off from each other. Three Weres heading to the North, three to the South and our group, now hobbled because of me, sought out a place with appropriate shelter from the approaching daylight. (Though I suspected the Weres would be searching likewise, even if they weren’t going to be spending as many hours there as we were). They would also need to hunt, and the large game had all but fled our lands in the past weeks. Whether it was a direct effect of the zombies, or simply the fact of their presence, only small game like rabbits and other ground dwellers remained. And that was another reason for putting an end to this. The Weres required meat, and livestock would only last so long, especially with a human population to feed as well. Yet another reason our prudent Queen had authorized such an excursion, her Queendom’s wealth was being decimated.  
We set ourselves to sorting out our own needs. The sound of our companions dying away quickly: I might have thought they were pleased to be rid of me, had I bothered to grant them that much of my mind’s time. The truth was, I had far more pressing concerns than their comfort or discomfort. Something was coming, a battle, a war, at the very least something bloody and Jankin, Alcide and I were walking straight into it. 

After only a little searching, Jankin discovered an earthen cave, and I stowed myself away in it as he and Alcide scouted the perimeter. Alcide went in search of something to sate his own hunger, his provisions safely set back with me against a leaner day. I could feel the approaching daylight as I did every morning. Weariness began to set into my bones, and I crept into the farthest niche I could find away from the light. In the stillness I had a moment to think, about how fortunate it was that Jankin had found the place so quickly, and how it had suited my very specific needs. There was an air about it, almost like Jankin himself, one of comfort. I let it envelop me as I drew my cloak over my body, laying my sword at my right arm. My eyes closed and I felt warm, familiar fingers caress my hair in his benediction again.

“Alcide will take the first watch.” I felt, more than saw his body curl into the ground in front of me, wrapping himself in his own cloak, his head resting on his pack. “Sleep well Eric,” was the slight whisper I heard as I did begin to fall into the Vampire oblivion. “In this place you will be safe.” I knew it to be the truth, and so I let the day take me.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke as the last rays of sun set behind the tops of the trees. I could tell that it wasn’t full dark yet, but in our little patch of the woods it was enough to pull my mind and then my body back to the world of the living, and away from the little death of my sleep. I didn’t move, but just looked out towards the mouth of our cavern, to see Alcide and Jankin huddled around a small fire, the smell of roasted flesh, rabbit I surmised, wafted back to me. I still found it pleasant, even if the taste itself gave me nothing but cramps and pains. 

Alcide was sitting on his haunches, as I was used to seeing him, ready to spring. Keeping himself warm over the scant flames, he’d eaten his meat first, likely more raw than cooked. The show he was putting on was for Jankin’s benefit. He wanted to be in his wolf form, I could see the prickling of his skin. He could sense the supernatural all around us, just as I could, and it was more than just the presence of the half fairy sharing his kill.

Jankin had covered his spiky dark hair with the hood of his cloak and he seemed to be making an effort to conceal all his exposed skin. The cloak rested over his broad shoulders, and draped over his crossed legs, as he sat in front of the fire. As I looked more closely at him, the bright blue eyes, the full lips, I nearly convinced myself that he was actually glowing; not the yellow of the flame, but a pure blue white light. Even his hands, the long fingers that picked meat from between the small bones, seemed to shine. Alcide didn’t seem to notice, and I questioned whether I was truly seeing it, or if it was a product of the blood I had taken from him over the months. Finally I stirred. Not making a great show of waking, since I knew both of them would be aware of even the smallest gesture, both being on alert in their own ways. I sat up and sought out my sword, taking it with me as I stood.

Jankin turned and smiled at me, the soft smile I was used to seeing as he attended me each night after the hunt. But now he was a part of the most deadly one yet, and I was never more happy for that. 

“All full up then my friends?” I walked forward to join them at the flames.

Alcide’s wolfie smile was also the same as always. For the time being my universe was unchanged. Though by the end of that night it would be more the antithesis of all I had ever known.

ooOOoo

Alcide had gone on a little ahead of us, still trying to shake the feeling of other that had him on edge. I could still see him, eyes and nose darting about, blades in both hands. That left Jankin and I together, striding behind him. As we walked I could see the tension stiffening Jankin’s shoulders, as if he understood that we were going in the right direction (which I had truthfully never doubted). I had seen him silent before, and even scolding, and less frequently, comfortable, even happy, but I had never seen him afraid, and I was certain that was what I was seeing just then. I put a careful hand on his arm, not to stop him, but show him that I wanted to understand. 

“What are we walking into Jankin?”

“Perhaps nothing, perhaps the gates of oblivion themselves Eric.” He kept his eyes straight ahead and did not break his stride.

“You need to tell me.”

“I don’t know anything for certain Eric.”

“But you have a sense. What is out there?”

“A terrible magic.” The serious tone of his voice might have disturbed me if I had not been expecting it. 

“And at its source Jankin?”

“An equally terrible being.” He took a very deep breath and gripped the pommel of his blade.

“And what is he to you Jankin?”

“My enemy.” I let my fangs drop.

There was no further time to speak on it, as we approached the slope of the gorge. Alcide stopped, shucking off his shirt, and pants, and handing his daggers back to me, he transformed to his wolf being. He had been vibrating for most of the last hour, wanting to take advantage of the feral skills that came with the fur and fangs. The conversation that Jankin and I had shared could not have failed to contribute to his anxiety for he certainly had heard every word. Even with the four feet now padding against the scrubby ground he was silent as he moved. Quieter than Jankin and I could manage, even with our skill. We all paused as the topography changed obviously from forest to cliff and looked out into the abyss. Jankin let out a deep breath, punctuated by the panting from Alcide’s now lupine mouth. I surmised that he could not see as well as either of us could, but of course I had never asked him the depths of his powers. 

“What are we looking for Jankin?”

“I imagine he will have a fortification of sorts. Nothing he will have wasted a great deal of time on constructing. He does not mean to stay here; he has greater designs for this place. It will be enough to protect a portal.”

“Can you lead us to it?”

He nodded and pointed just to his left, drawing his sword. I did likewise. I did not yet have all the answers, but I had enough to be wary. Alcide took point as we descended. It was his growl that was our first alert to trouble. We stopped as four mighty looking beasts crashed from around a copse of scraggly trees to try and surround us.

Prior to that night I had never seen an Elf, the stories from my childhood did them little justice. Not the little people youngsters are told of in their tiny beds at evenfall, no, quite the opposite. They had to be seven feet tall, taller than myself, with faces carved into wicked points, just like their teeth. Eyes that gleamed complete hatred, and ears that looked hard as rock, even curled over against themselves, sticking out from hair shorn like wheat stalks at harvest time; crooked noses and long fingers that ended in talons. They were naked but for strips of cloth to keep things out of the way of battle and low shrubs I guessed, though not just then, just then I had my sword at the ready, prepared to take on as many as I needed to.

Trust Alcide to be the first to move on them, leaping towards the chest of the one closest to him and being batted away with a beefy fist as if he were no more than a bug. Not that it stopped him, rolling to land he was back on all fours and tearing at the ankles of his chosen one, eliciting bellows of pain, and earning himself a mouthful of blood for his efforts. It stank to the heavens. He leapt away from the second swat, snarling. To my left Jankin was staring down at a second, his sword gripped so tightly I could see his knuckles turning white, and I began to wonder if he had ever actually used the thing before; at least until I saw the blur of its flight, and heard the squeal of the Elf as it whipped across his chest, drawing a jagged line of blood. Not that it stopped him advancing.   
I snarled my teeth at the remaining Elves and leapt at one, expecting to cleave him in two with my longsword, but I did little better than take a strip of flesh off a left arm; which only angered the beast even further. His skin was like leather. He advanced on me and I swung again drawing more blood and more ire. Even though we all continued to make contact with the various targets it didn’t seem to slow them down, and I became quite concerned about us being herded into a corner, especially as there was one more of them than of us, and so I took the chance given by their attention to Alcide to vault over one and recommence the attack from behind, forcing at least one of them to wheel on me, exposing an undefended back. I tried to lead him to me so that Alcide and his claws could have their way with him, and for a moment it seemed to be working, and Alcide had done his part, clawing at the beast’s muscled thighs until he was forced to his knees. But beyond that I saw two Elves turning their attentions to Jankin and I knew, despite his masterful work with his blade, he could not keep them at bay for long. Running around the mêlée, I came to his side and joined my blade with his, taking piece by piece off the closest Elf until he backed away for a moment, roaring his displeasure before advancing again. We were making little headway; that much was obvious. The things felt the pain, but it did not stop their drive. I changed tack, and sheathed my longsword, grabbing up Alcide’s daggers, which I had tucked into my belt. I might not be able to slash through the leathery skin, I reasoned in the moment, but the eyes, they were always vulnerable if you could get to them, so I pounced.

One blade hit its mark, driving deep into the gelatinous center of the globe, the other bounced off a thickened brow, and I was tossed yards away into the bedrock that made up the walls of the gorge, not knocking the breath from me, as that was quite impossible, but stunning me for a few moments. Before I could move I saw the beast, a hand clutched to the socket I had enucleated, bellowing and flailing out its free arm, hoping to strike something, which it did, Jankin, sending him limply crashing into the scrub. I was on my feet in seconds, charging at the thing, sword back in my hands, full fury in my grip as I ran him through with the sheer force of my will (I believe), and finally he crumpled to the ground. Before I could attend to my fallen companion though, I felt the steel grip on my shoulders, and was again torn from my feet. I landed after spiraling onto my front and felt the immediate weight of a body on top of mine, and I felt the claws tearing at my back. And then I smelled the blood; my own blood, and I felt its warmth turn to ice on my cold skin. Then came the searing burn. I did not have the presence of mind just then to understand that molten silver had been somehow poured over me, into the wounds that had not had time to heal, to mix with my torn flesh. 

I screamed.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8  
I have felt pain before, the pain of my mortal death, the pain of blood hunger, even the pains of combat, but never such as I felt that night. I snapped back and forth from consciousness to oblivion as I felt myself hurried away from the scene of my attack. I had thought that it was Alcide who had born my weight, but as I opened my eyes with fleeting glances, I saw only Jankin in my sight, and heard the ferocity of four paws at my side. Alcide had shifted, or remained shifted, I could not put the flow of time together just then. I felt myself lowered to the ground, and felt the shirt torn from my torso; not that there could have been much left of it. I did know it was covered in my blood; it is a thing with us, something primal, the scent of our own immortality, or mortality.

“Take it, run in the opposite direction and meet us back at the cavern.” I heard Jankin’s voice giving the order, and I understood. We were being tracked by something, something we could outrun, and outsmart. Alcide was going to take the scent of my wounded body far from where Jankin was taking me. I would have congratulated him for the wisdom of his action, had I not passed from consciousness again.

When I woke the next time, because of the pain that seemed to be threading through all the nerves in my spine, I was back in the cave we had used for shelter the day prior. I was lying on the earth, normally a place that would have given me comfort, but not then. I could hear Jankin’s heavy breathing, he had managed with my limp body for quite a way. Somewhere in the back of my mind, the part that was not torturing me with pain, and fatigue, I thought to myself that I would have to thank him when things were better. It was funny, as I think back on it, how I assumed that things were going to get better.

“Eric?” I heard his voice after some period of time, through the pain; I didn’t know how long I had been lying there on the earth. “Eric if you can hear me, I am so sorry.”

“Why?” I managed to breathe out between the tensing of the muscles across my back. 

“Because this is going to hurt, and I never wanted to hurt you.” I felt his familiar warm hands on my back, and then, for the first time, I smelled the burnt flesh that was obviously my skin. “Please,” he begged me, I could hear the panic in his voice, “you must try not to scream.” 

Something was pressed against my lips, I didn’t know what it was just then; my mind was more occupied with sorting out what it was that was going to make me scream. I say my mind was occupied with this, which makes it sound as though I had control, and calm imposed on my thoughts, when it was truly quite the opposite. Whatever the horror was, the question was quickly answered as I felt fingers claw into my back, and rip forth the silver slag that my body had tried to heal around. My fangs dropped and my jaw clenched around the thing between my teeth, and I bit. When I tasted the blood I understood what it was. Jankin had forced his own arm into my mouth, and as he tore away the second hardened silver rivulet I savaged it, blood and flesh swirling, dulling the pain. I could not stop myself. Blood tears ran from the corners of my eyes, I could feel their maddening trails.

I pulled on the wound hard as he seized the final two rods in turn, I did not scream, but I know he wanted to, I could feel it in the body that was wrapped over mine. The muscles tensed, the arm wanted to pull away but could not or did not, the heartbeat raced, the breath was held, and then finally it was over. I heard the metal clang against the stone walls where he had thrown it. The pain began to lessen, and I let him go, losing myself to the oblivion once again.

The taste of his blood remained in my mouth, and the power of it coursed through me. I could almost trace its path from my throat to my chest, out to the gashes in my back. I concentrated on nothing else but feeling my body heal and my mind clear. As I pulled back to consciousness once again, I felt warmth, and calm, and smelled both his blood and his scent around me. My tactile senses searched out what my eyes could not make out just then and I found him, on the ground beside me, his arms thrown over my chest, his chest to my back, his ragged breath brushing my neck.

“Jankin?” I whispered, hearing my own voice as weak and hoarse. The silver had gotten into my blood I could feel it robbing me of my power.

“I am here Eric.” His voice was nearly as exhausted as mine.

“I am so sorry.” 

“Rest and heal my friend.” The effort it took him to speak concerned me. I felt him drag my cloak over top of our bodies, it shut out any vision I might have had in the darkness of the cavern.

“Are we safe here?” I needed to know, so I could be prepared if my doom was to meet us.

“The silver is gone, and Alcide patrols outside. No harm will come to us this day.” He spoke slowly.

“Will you heal?” My own voice was just as slow.

“I must, as you must Eric. Rest. Tomorrow we will end this.” I felt a brush of soft skin against the back of my neck just then, but it swirled away in the poison and the cure.

ooOOoo

The next memory I had was of a newly fallen night. I heard the sound of a fire crackling before I opened my eyes to see it. I was still wrapped in my familiar cloak; so many scents assaulted me as I shifted it. I carefully tested first my fingers, then my hands, and finally my arms to lift my body, to see if weakness and pain remained anywhere. I was pleased to find, that beyond a vague feeling of fatigue, that I was whole again. It took more effort than I wished to push myself to sitting, and then to lift myself to standing, but I accomplished it, the motion drawing the eyes of my two friends, previously sitting around the fire.

“Eric?” Jankin spoke first. As he came over to me I could see the wraps on his left forearm, the one I had savaged.

“I am so sorry Jankin. I would never have harmed you if I had been in my right mind.” I offered as my apology.  
He tugged down the sleeve of his shirt to hide the bandage and nodded at me, ignoring his obvious discomfort.

“Are you well?” He asked me.

“I am.” I responded. He helped me to the fireside and left me there for a moment as he rummaged in his bag to produce a new shirt for me. Holding it out he joined me at the fire, but I simply held it in my lap as I enjoyed the warmth of the flame on my bare chest.

“I simply wish to know how you have recovered from this.” Alcide was staring at the both of us in a very odd manner, and I supposed that he had the right to ask the questions, since it seemed that a great many secrets had suddenly been brought into the light. “He poured silver into your wounds, should that not have poisoned your blood?”

“It should have, yes, but for Jankin.” Alcide turned his head to face Jankin next, not unkind eyes sought answers that I did not feel were mine to give. But Jankin remained silent, only dropping his eyes back to the embers.  
“It is Jankin’s nature.” I said, acting as his voice.

“You know the truth of that then Eric?” He whispered to the flame, not looking at me.

“Since the first mouthful of your blood.” 

“And yet you did not kill me?”

“Why would he kill you?” Alcide was beginning to look quite concerned with the direction the conversation was taking.

“Because Jankin is half Fairy. And my kind have hunted theirs for centuries.”

“Half Fairy? In a Vampire queendom? You are quite mad, you know that don’t you?” Alcide’s face was bobbing back and forth between mine, and Jankin’s still hunched over back.

“I had a spell to help conceal me, but it was not strong enough it seems to mask the blood.”

“So giving Eric your blood just now healed him?”

“Blood that I ripped from you.” I was uncomfortable with the way it had come about, but I appreciated the sacrifice he had made for me, and so I leaned into him somewhat and put an arm over his shoulder. I felt him rest against me and the calm of his presence washed over me like a shudder.

“Being close to a Fairy can clear the blood poison of silver.” Jankin spoke, finally raising his head. “To lay the warmth of your skin on the wounds accelerates the healing, as you saw me doing with Eric. I don’t know why exactly, I never had the time to ask these things of my father.”

“He is gone?” Alcide asked, astutely, ignoring something I felt he wanted to ask instead.

“Killed, many years ago. Along with my mother.”

“By whom?”

“By the very man who has sent the zombies on your Queendom, and the elves to attack us.”

Alcide stopped his line of questioning for a moment, seeming as though he had something to say, but being unsure of the way to phrase it. I was not so unsure as he.

“What is he called?” I asked.

“Breandan. He is a Fairy; a very powerful one indeed. And he commands armies of the Fae folk who are loyal to his cause.” 

“And that cause is?”

“Reclaiming the lands of the earth for his people. Wresting them away from Vampires, Weres and Mortals alike.”

“And he killed your parents for what reason?”

Jankin addressed us both.

“My father, for daring to couple with a mortal, and my mother for daring to couple with a Fairy. He would have killed me as well, for being a half-breed, but my mother was not only mortal, but also a witch, and she was able to cast a spell so that he could not find me. It was that very spell which kept my true nature hidden from the Vampires of your Queendom. All but Eric it seems.” He smiled grimly, and finally straightened himself, finding conviction in the story he told out loud.

“His walkers bring a pestilence upon the land. If the mortals are slain, then the Vampires will go. If the Vampires go, the Weres will go as well, for what purpose will there be in staying in a dead land? And when they are gone he will bring his folk and they will then make war from a position of strength upon his neighbors. The lands will fall and the portals will open. He will be Prince of this realm, and others will come to him. There will be no safe place for any of us.”

“And so we stop him now.” 

Jankin nodded. “Yes Eric, and so we must stop him now.”

“His first salvo with the Elves was fierce.” Alcide noted.

“But he has shown his hand. He will not have many Elves in this realm yet, perhaps not even many Fae. Niall, the prince of the Fae lands forbids travel to this realm without his knowledge. Anyone who is here has come without his leave. They have declared themselves to be Niall’s enemy. Breandan has support, but it is not all with him yet. For this night there are three of us, and it only needs be one of us get close to him. And now we know where he is.”

“Then we should do this, tonight.”


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

We were silent, even more so than the previous night. Alcide had taken up his wolf form from the first step and was casting about constantly for the scent of more elves; walkers seemed no more than a nuisance just then. I had my sword drawn, as did Jankin. Again he was concealed in his cloak, but even in the shadows of its folds I could see the trial I had put him through. I had done no more than touch his shoulder as we had set out, and nodded my head in thanks. He had covered my hand with his, putting me in mind of so many peaceful nights after the hunts, when he had attended me, when it had meant little more to me than friendship or servitude to have his hands on me. But there was suddenly doubt in my mind, doubt that threatened to distract me, about how much autonomy any of us had really had. I did not want to feel bitterness, not after what he had done to save my life, but I had to wonder if I had been steered in this direction by enchantments beyond my control. Any doubt could be fatal, and I needed to push it from my mind.

Without pause we descended the steep of the chasm walls, avoiding the site of our previous attack. Alcide seemed to know the way, and I expected that he and Jankin had discussed it all as I had been dead to the day. Alcide showed no signs of distrusting Jankin, and I took heart in that. He was a good judge of character, better than I perhaps. When he stopped, Jankin, who was a few steps ahead of me went to his side and knelt down beside the massive shoulders. Alcide was nosing to the left, and Jankin was looking that way as well. The scent of humanity became obvious. Not the undead, but living, frightened, humanity. I could see Jankin tremble, even under his cloak. He was not a devious man, he couldn’t hide his true emotions, it was only I that had been unable to see them. I reached out for him again, resting a hand softly on his shoulder, he turned his head to me just slightly before he seemed to catch himself and straighten stiffly. The snap bothered me, but I could not dwell on it. Alcide was bristling again.

“He has prisoners.” Jankin whispered. Apparently we had arrived at our destination. The trees were high there, and it was difficult to see much between them but as I looked the irregular walls became more obvious; incongruous amongst the ordered growth of nature. “You had wondered where the walkers were coming from? I think sadly, we have our answer.” The sigh that slipped past his lips was so despondent. I had no answer for his statement. “Eric? Are you ready?” He turned to me to look into my face for the first time since we had left the fire. His eyes sparkled with sadness.

“To take our blades straight down this Fairy’s throat? Most certainly.”

Alcide led the way. 

ooOOoo

I could smell the fairy blood before we breached the walls of the small fortification. It wasn’t much, certainly not armies of the creatures waiting for us. I began to feel as electric as Alcide looked. There were no guards, I don’t suppose this Breandon felt he needed them, even knowing that we were in the woods. The elf who had remained alive, though wounded, had to have told him of the encounter. That misplaced self-confidence would work to our advantage.

Swords drawn we entered the only visible doorway and made our way down the single hallway. It was almost not large enough to walk side by side. The air felt charged around me, Jankin too. It was hard to tell with Alcide, he had a scent he was following. 

“He will draw power from an open portal.” Jankin whispered. “He has a hidden passageway between the worlds here somewhere.”

“Can you find it?” I asked in return.

“Yes.” He motioned me forward again, to a narrower hall, where our shoulders could not help but touch. Alcide seemed to want to continue on our original course. I cast the air around us again and understood. I watched as he transformed back into his human form. Of course, our existence was still only the stuff of firelight tales to most of the humans; he could not approach them as a wolf. I handed back his daggers as Jankin gave him his leather pants. 

“See you soon my friend.” I nodded at him and he took off with a grin, a dagger in each hand, ready for whatever was guarding the stock Breandon was likely using to create his army of the undead. The alarm would soon be raised, no matter which of us found our targets first. I was desperate for the action.   
Jankin stopped, just a half step ahead of me, his empty hand reached back touching my chest as lightly as a feather. The imagined warmth was enough to make me shudder. 

“It’s near.” He whispered. I clutched my sword tighter.

“How will I know him?”

“He will be the one I attack first.” The words, spoken with a frightening staccato rhythm so foreign to my Jankin, gave me pause. It made me doubt what I had heretofore tried to convince myself of. 

“Jankin?” I whispered, needing to ask the question. But I did not have the time. There was a sudden high-pitched shriek, and a body flew from around the corner. My fangs dropped and I raised my blade and slashed forward with it as Jankin ducked, free of its path, sensing my sudden movement. It had not hurt, apparently, that my blade had a measure of iron in it. The taste of Fairy blood filled the air, spraying us both with a fine mist as the body fell. The processes of rational thought were assaulted in my mind. The blood was like a drug and I pushed against the abandon it promised. I offered my hand to Jankin to help him rise, he looking at me with a wash of fear in his blue eyes, and we began to move in the direction from which the first Fairy, now turning to dust at our feet, had come.  
We burst into a larger room, both fueled by our own demons, and found a small nest of Fairies, each of which turned to hiss at us, showed twisted smiles, and ebony black eyes whose gaze seemed to bore through to your soul. (Assuming you had one). I knew immediately which one was Breandon, because I could see Jankin’s own eyes focus on him, and I watched as he ducked beneath and between the other two that began a charge towards us, to seek him out. He was lithe, but I had little time to think on that, my targets took my attention.

They were not skilled fighters, not as skilled as I was, and though they could move in a blur faster than my own, their blades and clawed hands were not difficult to dodge, for the most part. I cannot say that they made no contact, but I landed my more blows than they did. The scent of their flowing blood filled the air, and my senses, especially as their hearts continued to pump it. The fog of lust for it settled over me, and I could not shake it. My skilled movements became less so, though no less effective, and I managed to grab up one Fairy, bleeding from both arms, and sink my teeth into his neck, the glory of his blood flowing down my throat. He convulsed once, but I was not kind in the way I took him, the jagged wound was not one he could ever recover from. He was dead before he hit the ground and I began my pursuit of the second, a roar on my lips that would have startled me in its intensity had I not been so drunk on Fairy blood.

Having seen his compatriot shredded by my fangs did not frighten him, in fact it made him more bloodthirsty; though perhaps that wasn’t the right word to choose. He leapt at me, swinging his arms in an incomprehensible frenzy. I felt the slashes across my arms as he made contact, and as close as he was to me suddenly, my long sword became useless. There wasn’t time to sheath it, so I spun the grip in my hand and brought the pommel down on his left posterior shoulder as he tore past me again, trying to cut at my leg as I sidestepped him. He grunted as he dropped to the stone floor of the room. I was on him before he could right himself. Yanking him up by the back of his tunic I sank my fangs into the side of his neck, where the artery pulsed and beckoned me. I felt his fluttering heart beat pounding against my mouth, his hands scrabbled to scratch me, drawing weak lines down the side of my head before his arms dropped lifelessly to his sides as I finished him off.

There was hardly any logic left in me at that point, so full was I of the drug. Only the realization that the scent of more blood laced the air allowed me to look up and around; an animal, slavering for the elixir. I could see the two men fighting, but at that point I did not know who was friend and who was enemy. Both had the beautiful bronze blades, both were moving faster than mortal eyes could see. But I could see them, and I could see that one was certainly having the worst of the battle. I pushed my mind to understand through the red haze. Jankin? His body flew past me, crashing into the wall, sliding down with a horrible limpness. The other; Breandon? was on him again, fingers curled into talons it seemed as he dug them into Jankin’s flesh. I heard the scream. It was that, more than the vision, that cleared my head enough to pull the evil Fairy off of my friend, tossing him with all my force towards the opposite wall, where he contacted with as much force as Jankin had previously. 

I was on him, but he was stronger than his minions, older perhaps, and he fought me, his sword stinging cuts along my body. I fought him with only my hands and teeth. The air was thick with spilled blood from us both. He panted with exertion, I did not, not that I did not feel the exhaustion. It only enraged me that the prey I wanted so desperately was fighting against me. I dropped my sword and reached two hands to his neck, grabbing him up and tearing the flesh until the satisfying crunch of bones breaking rewarded me. I plunged greedily into the wound, drinking in ferocious gulps, feeling the warmth of his ebbing life force filling me. I had never felt so sated. I pulled every drop from him, only letting the corpse drop when there was nothing left. For a moment there was absolute silence, and then a terrible long breath, laced with pain. It shook me from my fog with a frightening snap.

“Jankin?”


	10. Chapter 10

My head pounded, fighting against the desires of my flesh, desires to seek out further Fairy blood, the desires to lap up what was trickling from the many wounds on Jankin’s body. I cannot recall ever have had to fight my urges so desperately, even as a newborn. But of course at that point, killing to eat was expected. I clenched my fingers into fists and steeled my jaw so that my fangs nearly cut at my own lips. Jankin was my friend, one who had only just saved my life, the flush memories of his hands on me, his life-giving blood offered to me, pushed to the front and I knelt beside him, banishing the hunger to examine his wounds.   
His back was broken. I could see that before even touching him. And as I carefully lifted the tails of his tunic, I could see the gash across his abdomen, the one that had soaked the cotton with blackened blood. It was so deep that the quivering pink of his intestines shone through the thin omentum that kept them from spilling forth. Even the bites I had inflicted on his left arm had opened again, blood staining the white bandages that Alcide had wound around them. It made me sick to see it again.

“Jankin?” I whispered, in shock at the depth of his injuries. 

He could barely reply, forcing words out between heaving breaths.

“Eric?”

“I am here.” I let my hands rest on an uninjured part of his chest. I wanted him to feel my presence because his eyes were closed, and I did not know that he could open them.

“He is dead?”

“They are all dead my friend.”

He smiled and took a few more drawn out breaths. His eyes opened just a little.

“Let me help you.” I brought my wrist to my teeth, intent on tearing open my veins to give him my blood.

“No.” He sighed out loud on a labored breath as his eyes closed again.

“No?” I did not understand. “I can help you heal.” I was certain of that fact, his wounds were grievous, definitely, and he would bear their scars for the rest of his life, but he would live it.

“It is done Eric.” He whispered.

“Done? What is done?” I felt a sense of panic beginning to rise, further banishing the confusion of the fairy blood.

“It has been my only purpose.” He paused between sentences, I could see the toll the effort to speak was taking on the scant strength he still had. “I have avenged my parents. There is nothing else.”

“Nothing else?” I was certain I sounded as foolish as a jester, brought to entertain the court in happier times, repeating his words like a simpleton.

“I have left everything else behind in pursuit of this.” He moved his hand to cover the wound on his abdomen, wincing at the effort. “It is time. Perhaps the Summerlands will await even a half-breed like me.” I felt his breath slow against my hands, still pressed on his chest.

“No.” It was a feeble protest.

“If only you could understand Eric.” He whispered, and opened his eyes to look at me, the pain laced them like a haze, their beautiful clear blue dulled like the oncoming snow clouds in the winter sky. He reached up for me, brushing a hand along my cheek. I turned, unconsciously towards his fingers.

“Don’t tell me that I don’t understand!” Anger was coming to replace the confusion.

“Dwi’n caru ti cariad.” He whispered as his hand slumped to his side, and his body to the stone floor.

“Stay with me!” I screamed it at him, as if the power of my voice could somehow change what was happening. But of course it couldn’t, only one thing could: my blood. He would not take it from my wrist, but I knew one way he would take it from me. Even if that knowledge had only just become clear to me.

My fangs were still drawn, and I viciously slashed at my tongue, and stabbed at my lower lip, ignoring the pain of it, filling my mouth with my own blood. I braced my hands at either side of his trunk and forced my mouth against his, splitting his lips with a thrust of my tongue, letting the blood flow.

There was nothing soft, or gentle, or romantic about the kiss I gave him. It was ruled with violence, and fueled by my fear of losing him. I crushed my lips against his; they would bruise for a few moments, before my shared strength healed even that small assault. I practically forced my blood down his throat, not allowing him even an instant to breathe, counting on the reflex that would make him swallow before anything else, like a drowning man who inevitably takes the mouthful of water into his lungs. The blood simply needed to be in his tissues for its magic to work, and he might damn me for it later, but he would be alive to curse and hate me.

I kept an ear trained on his heartbeat, hearing every flutter until there was a single hard beat from it, and I pulled away from him and watched. For a hateful moment there was silence, no heartbeat, no breath, and I wondered with despair if my actions had come too late. And then his whole body convulsed, his eyes flew open and he drew one loud, long, gasping breath and froze in that moment of horror for a supernatural eternity. He then collapsed again, and I could not ascertain if I had witnessed his last breath, or the first one of his rebirth; not until I heard the tremulous patter of his heartbeat start, and I pushed myself forward to kiss him again. That time I felt a hand reach around my neck and grasp the back of my head, holding me in place more by will than actual strength, mouth joining me in the depth of the kiss. And I heard the soft sounds of his swallowing the trickles of blood that still flowed from my tongue. But most everything else was lost in another feeling completely.

“Eric!” From a distance, another voice called my name, the human voice of my longtime hunting partner, Alcide. I was still kneeling beside Jankin as he burst into the room, stopping short at the scene of carnage. I hid my fangs. Behind him I could see many faces peering around his dirty, and not unscarred torso. He had met some resistance as well, though nothing such as we had.

“We are here Alcide.”

“And Breandon?”

“Dead, all dead.” I answered, returning my gaze to Jankin’s body, and my attention to the heartbeat that still wavered. “And your quest?”

“There were two demons to defeat, but it was easily accomplished.” He came to my side. “How is Jankin?”

The significance of his use of the word demon was not lost on me. Just as he had not fought in his lupine form, he had not identified the elves he had killed by their true nature. The humans, again crowding in behind him, were oblivious to the truth of their situation, and that made my job in saving Jankin that much more complicated. 

“He has been gravely injured in the fight.” Indeed, since the fragile movement of his hand, and his lips against my own, he had hardly moved, using his energy to breathe and little else. I needed to tend to him further.

“The devil is gone?” One of the freed men whispered, the uncertainty in his voice obvious, he had not yet decided if Alcide was a savior, or just another evil.

I focused myself on his face, capturing his eyes. “He is, and all his demon minions besides.” I meant to compel his obedience. It seemed to loosen his tongue.

“He appeared in our village many months ago, he and the demons,” I assumed he meant the elves. “They took everyone away, imprisoning us in this tower. He put spells on our family and loved ones, turning them into terrible, hungry golems, their minds stolen.” The truth of Jankin’s assumption of how the zombie walkers were created was revealed. “He took everything from us.”

“Captain Alcide will lead you back to our lands, our Queen will welcome you.” Indeed, considering all the people we had lost to those friends and family, these folk would be more than welcome. Alcide took up the planning as I returned my senses to Jankin.

“It is easily a day’s journey. Can you and your people walk?” 

“We will do what we must.”

“Do you think we will encounter more walkers Eric?”

I knew that most witch spells did not survive the death of their casters, but I did not know about Fairy spells. 

“They might yet be shambling through the woods between us and the village. And with the night fading,” I hoped Alcide would understand that without the use of my preternatural abilities, that I could not make the journey back to the castle at the speed of the humans.

“You will care for Jankin, and I will lead these people, and we will meet at the castle by tomorrow evening.” Those people were funneling into the room, several of them stooping to retrieve the weapons discarded by the Fairies I had killed; their bodies now all but glittering dust swirling on the floor, mostly ignored.

“We will fight whatever evil we come upon.” The only man to have spoken thus far weighed Breandon’s bronze blade in his right hand. He appreciated the craftsmanship of it, just as I had done when Jankin had revealed his. I nodded my approval at him, sheathing that sword at Jankin’s side, and then my own. I took up Jankin’s limp body into my arms and stood to my full height. The air around me seemed to crackle, and I was not the only one to notice it, all the humans seemed suddenly alert, and Alcide’s whole body tensed, I knew he wanted to change. Jankin’s eyes struggled to open. I could see the muscles in his jaw begin to tense.

“We have to go.” He whispered. “The portal.”

I needed no further explanation, and neither did Alcide. We led the fifty or so humans, (I had not realized there were so many), out of the tower fortress and back into the darkened woods of the gorge. Alcide took point; I took the rear, which allowed me to soften the trip for Jankin, hovering only minutely off the ground as we ascended the slope, using my heightened balance to keep him steady. My only goal was to get him back to the cave where I could give him more blood, but the coming sunrise and the mortal pace were putting me on edge. 

At an appropriate point, while we were still in the dark of the night sky I called out to Alcide and told him that I needed to find safety for Jankin. Alcide understood exactly what I was doing, but made a show of begging me to continue with them. With an understanding clap on my shoulder he turned his crew away from the path I intended to take and swore he would come to retrieve us both once he had safely delivered his charges. As soon as they were out of mortal earshot I began to run, and had reached the relative safety of the cave in moments.

A moan slipped from Jankin’s lips as I lay him down back in the far recesses of the cave, away from any possible stray beam of sunlight. Never had I prayed so hard for rain. 

“You must take more of my blood Jankin.” I urged him, knowing he was slipping back and forth from consciousness. I slid my body in behind his, well aware of the reversed positions from only the night before. He trembled as I wrapped him into my arms. I whipped off my cloak and bundled him into it, cursing the cold of my nature out loud.

“I am so sorry, I cannot keep you warm Jankin. I am sorry that I could not take you home this night, that you will have to suffer a day in this cave with a useless Vampire.” His quivering was becoming more like convulsions. 

“Will you let me help you?” The voice came from behind me, and I spun violently, jerking Jankin as I did, eliciting another moan. My fangs ran out again and I hissed at the visitor, not understanding how I had not seen him as we had entered.

It was an older man I saw standing before me, shoulder length blond hair, hands held out before him to show me he had no weapon. His clothing was a colorless beige, but finely crafted, and he wore leather boots. The air around him wavered like an eddy.

“I mean you no harm Eric, neither you or Jankin.”

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” I held Jankin more tightly, wary.

“My name is Niall Brigant.”

“The Prince?”

“Indeed.”

“Why are you here?” I felt anger in my chest; a powerful Fairy prince had only now chosen to appear, after the fighting, after the bloodshed? 

“I owe the both of you a great debt. You have rid me of a great enemy; and I can claim complete innocence in the outcome of the battle. To have intervened in Breandon’s death myself would have made me many enemies. But for others to have accomplished it, in defense of themselves, in action against his works, leaves me innocent.”

“I am pleased for you.” My sarcasm could not have been more plain as I held Jankin, feeling his soft heartbeat against my chest. 

“Please, you do not understand.” His softened expression did not look hurt, but neither did it look completely altruistic. 

“I am well and truly tired of hearing you Fairies tell me that!”

“Let me at least leave you furs to be comfortable, and a fire, and spells to keep everything away from you during your daytime slumber.”

I wanted to be angry with him, but I felt the crippling impotence of the daylight coming. Alcide would not be able to return, even in his loping wolf form until the night fell again. And as distasteful as it was to take help from a creature that could have prevented all the tragedy, I knew that it was necessary. I nodded at him, keeping my features as stern as I could manage. I might need his help, but I was not about to let my face show any cracks in my resolve.

“Thank you.”

In an instant there were bear furs piled around us, and the faint glow of a fire a few feet away. Even the air seemed to shimmer in that instant, and I understood it to be the spell to protect our sleeping spot. But we were alone again, finally, and I left Jankin only long enough to create a bed for the both of us. 

“Eric?” He whispered as I arranged him on the softest of the skins.

“Save your strength Jankin. You must take more of my blood now.” I lay in front of him, brushing my fingertips across his bruised face. He pursed his lips to kiss them softly. It made me shudder.

“Cariad.” He whispered again as I tore through the thicker part of my hand, and offered the soft flesh to him. He took it without protest, and again the soft sounds of his suckling filled my ears, lulling me finally to sleep as the dawn broke.


	11. Chapter 11

I did not dream, I rarely dreamed. It did not mean that I did not indulge in fantasy from time to time, though I did not always identify it as such. In many cases it was strategizing, or planning, running a scenario over and over in my mind, seeing all the possibilities and planning for every eventuality. At other times it was more indulgent. That sunset as I woke, the thoughts that swirled in my head as I lay motionless were a mixture of both. Jankin was no longer beside me, but I knew he was near. Now that he had ingested my blood I was more acutely aware of his emotions; and those emotions were scattered; flitting between despair, confusion and desperation. I could smell the fire still burning; the fairy spell still active obviously. The furs I lay in were warm, and Jankin’s scent clung to them. I indulged myself in taking a great breath of them before I opened my eyes.

Jankin was sitting by the fire, hunched over his knees, his head in his hands, breathing quietly, sobbing even more silently, but not beyond my hearing. I sat up and pushed the furs off of my body. Suddenly unsure of what I had done, and of what I should do next.

“Jankin?” I advanced cautiously, “I am so glad to see you healed.” He looked up at me, brushing the salt tears off his cheeks with the back of his hand. He took a very deep breath, ostensibly to steady himself before confronting me. I felt anger spice his thoughts over the black sadness.

“How is it possible Eric?” He looked back into the flames.

“My blood. It has that power.” I sat beside him, not daring to touch him yet, unsure where his anger was going to take him.

“I was dying.” The tone in his voice was eerie.

“You were.” I admitted.

“I wanted to die.”

“You didn’t understand.”

He looked at me, the fire reflecting in his blue eyes, taming the ice. 

“Am I going to be a Vampire now?”

“No!” I paused, startled at my own anger. He was only frightened, he didn’t know. I needed to tone down my outbursts. “No,” I repeated more softly, “no, you are yourself.”

“You would not take the Queen’s blood? What is the danger? Have I become your slave?”

“No Jankin, I would never use someone that way.” I hoped that the sentiment was true.

“Why did you save me Eric? Was it guilt? Was it obligation?” He rolled his fingers into fists, fighting the confusion.

“Those reasons and more.” I began; watching his shoulders sag even further, eyes beginning to glisten again. I tried to qualify, because his misery was drilling into my bones. 

“You saved my life: your blood and your body close to mine.” Perfect recall of those moments shook me. “Your magic kept me alive. I could not let you die in return for it.” I took an unnecessary breath and I reached for his hand. It was limp, and he made no effort to clutch mine in return. 

“It was my battle Eric.”

“And my honor to fight it beside you. And we are victorious.” His eyes were melting in front of me and I pulled his hand towards my chest, causing his body to turn to mine. I let his hand drop and touched his cheek carefully with my healed palm. It was as if my body remembered his mouth so recently on my skin there, I trembled, as did he.

“I am selfish Jankin.” I whispered as I pulled his head forward, he rested it on my shoulder, in much the same pose as he had struck after he had given me his blood on the nights of hunting. “I did not wish to be without you.”

He made no show of hiding his sob then. I kissed the top of his head, lingering to breathe in his scent, it was comforting, like lavender and vanilla, and the earth itself after rain. He turned his face up to mine, eyes glistening, and he brought his mouth to mine, pressing softly against my lips, we shared the gentle kiss for a moment before the air was split with a howl I recognized instantly.

“Alcide.”

Obviously Brigant’s spell extended to disguising the cave mouth as effectively as it had to the perpetual fire. Alcide couldn’t find us, but was reluctant to call out names in case there were still enemies in the woods.

“Go.” Jankin whispered to me.

At the mouth of the cave I could see the giant wolf, pacing as if caged, casting his head about, searching for the scent of us. I stepped past the limit of the spell into the dark and he wheeled on me.

“We’re here.”

I watched him transform back, his healthy, tanned skin lit by the moonlight behind him. Every muscle was a knot, the tension and his nature written across each one. He was a creature of the dark, just as I was, just as Breandon and his minions had been; so different than Jankin. And I began to wonder if I had any right to feel the way I did.

“I couldn’t find the place.” He said to me.

“Let me explain.”

I led him into the cave and he greeted Jankin in a warm embrace, it seemed that Jankin had that effect on most everyone he allowed to become close to him. But there were so few of us. I explained about Brigant’s visit, and he in turn told me that the survivors had been safely delivered to the castle. They had met no other walkers on the way, which bore out the theory that their spell had died along with Breandon. The Queen had been very pleased to receive them, and pleased to hear from Alcide that they expected the troubles to cease.

After greeting Alcide, Jankin had fallen silent and begun to bundle up the furs and our blades. He seemed as anxious to leave as I was. Or perhaps it was his nerves that were affecting my own feelings? I had taken a great deal of his blood, a great deal of Fairy blood, and my emotions were churning. I girded on the sword he offered me, watching him do the same, searching for clues in a face that had become neutral to me since the appearance of my friend. Alcide and he left our hiding place as I sorted out how to put out a magical fire. I needn’t have worried because in another instant Niall Brigant was with me again in the cave.

“Where are you going to take him?” I knew exactly whom he was talking about.

“Where he goes is his choice.”

“The portal is here. I cannot offer you passage Vampire, but I can offer it to him.”

“He will be safer with you? I cannot believe that. Breandon cannot be the only one from your realm who holds disdain for the half-blood fairies.”

“Perhaps not. But with my protection he might stand a better chance than within a nest of Vampires.”

“The decision is his. I will make sure he knows of your offer.”

Brigant nodded at me, and then everything was plunged into darkness; darkness that even I couldn’t see through. It passed quickly and the place that I could see as I emerged from it seemed just the same as before. The same crackling was tangible in the air, so I knew the portal remained. I left it behind.

ooOOoo

We moved quickly through the woods. Alcide returned to his wolf form, being less than pleased about running naked. (He had left his clothing at the fringes of the decimated village.) Jankin moved surely past the natural obstacles, a by-product of the blood I had given him. Considering the amount, his natural abilities, which had never been shabby to begin with, would be enhanced for many days to come. The blue-white glow I had noticed on our journey out was back, though I came to believe that I was the only one who could see it. We arrived back the castle gates in a quarter of the time it would have taken us at mortal speed. I loved running with both of my friends, seeing them in natural glory, and seeing a spark of the night in Jankin; even catching a pursed smile now and again. The emotions coming off of him were strengthening in their resolve, I wondered if it was because we were putting distance between ourselves and the portals, or if it was because he was seeing a new life beginning for him; free from the pursuit of revenge. Free perhaps, to pursue something else?

We were met at the gates by one of Godric’s men, I had not expected he would come himself; it was beneath him. The message relayed though, were his words.  
“The Queen awaits your presence Sheriff.”

“Of course, though I think you will agree that we are in no fit condition for an audience with her Majesty. You will see that water is brought to my chamber, along with food for my companion.” I did not leave the young vampire time to object, but turned myself towards the passageways that led to my rooms, Jankin falling in step behind me. I could nearly hear Alcide shaking his head, with a smile on his face at my insolence. Quite frankly, after the previous 48 hours I was less than inclined to be manipulated into anything. The water and trays arrived at almost the same time as we did, having slipped back into a mortal pace so as not to arouse the suspicion that I had given Jankin Vampire blood.

“Let me prepare the water for you,” Jankin slipped back into the familiar mode of my servant, but I grasped his shoulder and held him back.

“You will eat first, and drink the wine they have brought. I will see to things.”

I held my hands out for his sword, which he handed over to me. I lay it down on the table, just beyond the tray of cheeses and fruits that had materialized. I set my own sword beside it. Snapping a few of the larger logs into kindling with my fingers I built and then lit the fire and placed the cauldron on its tripod to heat, stealing glances back at Jankin as I worked, to ensure that he was doing as I had asked. (Or had I ordered it?) He was, with the most curious expression on his face upon every bite and careful sip. 

I hadn’t the time to properly attend to the weapons then, but I unsheathed each, and rubbed each blade down slowly with a cloth and oil to ensure they were clean, and free of tempting Fairy blood. As I always did, I burned the cloth afterwards. There would be time for a proper inspection later, but just then, other matters pressed.

Jankin was looking at me as I pulled the water off of the fire and tempered it as he always had. 

“Give me your shirt.” I held my hand out for it. He peeled it off, what was left of it and I tossed it into the fire.

“Why?” He began to ask before I offered my reasoning.

“The spell may protect you, but your shirt is soaked in Fairy blood. We need to avoid further temptations. It is enough that the Queen will smell the blood in me, hopefully the tale of those I killed will be enough to throw off any suspicion of your parentage. The Queen will likely chastise me for not bringing one back here for her to feast on.”

He shuddered, but said nothing.

“Come and wash.” I urged. He moved precisely, dipping the cloth into the warm water and dragging it over his face and neck, closing his eyes at the sensation.

“It feels different.” He took a deep breath, “and the food, it tasted more complex.”

“And you were able to run for miles in the forests, and you can see everything in this room despite there being no light but from the fireplace.” He looked around, finally realizing that there were no lit candles, or lamps. I saw the question form in his features.

“It is my blood.” I told him.

“And you are certain that I am not a Vampire?”

I laughed, “Quite certain.” His fluttering heartbeat, his pounding blood singing in my ears, all spoke of his semi-mortality. “The effects will fade eventually.”

“Pity.” He continued to drag the cloth over his body, the water glistening off his skin, refracting differently off the new scars.

“Unless you take more of my blood.” I whispered as I pulled off my own shirt to splash water on myself. The comment stopped him, I knew he would hear it, and I needed to say it. I stood fully before him, his body glowing with its own luminescence, besides the golden light the fire cast on him. I reached out and touched the shining white scar across his abdomen. I felt him tremble as my cold fingers caressed him.

“I am sorry that my blood couldn’t heal this Jankin.”

“What does not fade I will see as nightly proof of my fulfilled promise.” He let his hand cover mine, his other one reaching out to my jaw, curling his fingers around it with some pressure. I did not object as he drew my face to his and kissed me softly. I slipped my hand around his waist and pulled our bodies together. The warm press of his chest against mine made me close my eyes, and I teased his bottom lip with my tongue, coaxing him to open it so that I could deepen our kiss. It would have been easy to become lost in him, feeling his heartbeat quicken, feeling his hands brush down my sides, feeling one of them slip in between our bodies to brush against me. I could not help but gasp. I felt his smile against my lips and he only pushed against me harder.

“No.” I managed to whisper.

“No?” His confidence was suddenly enticing, but dangerous.

“We cannot go to the Queen smelling of sex.” I tried to back away from him but found my legs unwilling.

“But I want you.” He whispered in my ear, and again I began to wonder when I had relinquished control.

“I want you too.” I forced myself away from his body. “And once we have fulfilled this duty I will bring you back here, and you will understand the depths of my passions.” 

He curled his mouth into a wry grin and returned to washing himself, as did I, our hands brushing together periodically in the common basin. I began to question my common sense.


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

He held out my cloak for me, in front of the fire as he had so many times before, and as before he let his hands rest on my shoulders as I slipped into it, but his grasp was different, it dared more intimacy, or at least I finally understood it. 

“What of the blood Godric gave you? What is to be done with it?” The phial had remained on my mantel, concealed against servants that might think to purloin it. Jankin knew where I had hidden it. And as I watched, he reached for the concealed panel. I put a hand out to stop him.

“Don’t.” I urged.

“Why not?” His fingers curled around it and he drew it to himself. “Do you intend to drink it?”

“I do not.”

“Then let me give you a plausible explanation as to what has happened to it.”

I lifted my brows, curious as to what he had in mind. He picked up my soiled shirt from where I had cast it on the bed and returned to the table with it. 

“Jankin, it is a dangerous thing to play with,” I began, but I did not move against him. He folded the phial in the tails of the shirt, and as I watched, he took up my sword, and pressed the flat of the blade into it, crushing the fragile glass into splinters. Nothing was said as he picked up the bundle and moved to the fire, emptying the shards into the flames, leaving the bloodstain on the linen.

“What have you done?” I asked, staring at him. He dropped the shirt on the hearth.

“You may now tell everyone with sincerity that the phial was broken in a struggle with one of the otherworldly creatures you encountered on your journey.”

“I do not recall us struggling Jankin.”

In an instant he had his arms wrapped around me, pinning mine to my sides, I writhed against him for a moment, which only made him laugh a bit. I had no wish to hurt him, which would have been easily accomplished in breaking his hold. But I let him have his way, and simply parted my lips for the kiss I wanted from him, taking his mouth while he concentrated on holding me still. When we broke apart he declared it a worthwhile and honorable struggle.

“Should they wish to see the proof I can return here and bring them the shirt. If the Queen asks nothing of it, then it will be washed on the morrow and the matter will be at an end.”

“You are a clever thing Jankin.” I slapped him across the shoulders. “When did you become so self-assured?”

“Perhaps it is your blood.”

I reached for him, clutching his face in both my hands, looking deeply into the blue eyes; willing myself to see into his soul.

“Give yourself more credit, my friend. I think it was always there, simply over shadowed by the enormity of your task.” I forced my mouth onto his roughly, not enough to tear his tender flesh, but enough to make my point about desires. That time it was he who gasped and paused as I tasted him. For that moment I felt back in control of things, a familiar feeling I had missed.

ooOOoo

We were admitted to the throne room by a different Vampire than the one who had brought us the summons. An older man than I when he had been turned, his hair showed a few grey strands at the temples, his eyes were dark, and he followed our approach down the hallway unashamedly. His barely hidden arrogance, and annoyance at our tardiness marked him as another of Godric’s men. The Queen’s hand groomed his men in his own image, and it would not have surprised me if they were all under a blood bond to him, if not his own offspring. Fiercely loyal to him and to the Queen in turn; though which one came first was a question for another day. He bowed his head stiffly as Jankin and I came to the doors, and opened them without a word to either of us.

The Queen was alone at her large desk, standing, though leaned over it, and she raised her head with a great smile to see us. 

“Sheriff.” Her white fangs gleamed, and her eyes glittered in the glow of the torches that lined the walls. She was alone, and I was glad for it. 

“Your Majesty.” I bowed low and Jankin, a few steps behind me, and now very quiet, a neutral expression on his face, stopped and went to his knees, casting his eyes down to the floor. The self-confidence had been reigned in on his part as we had walked the halls, he was again demure, and it would serve him well in this audience.

“We are so pleased that you have all returned unharmed to us Sheriff.”

I rose.

“Captain Alcide has spoken highly of your actions, both of your actions.” I watched as she peered around me to see Jankin, who was only now standing, remaining behind me. Sophie-Ann stepped down from the dais and came around to put a hand on my shoulder; her grin pre-eminent. 

“There have been no reports of walkers in nearly a full day and night. Though I have sent teams out to continue the patrols. I am optimistic that you have rid us of this threat.”

I nodded, “That is my fondest hope as well.”

“And you have brought us more folk to happily repopulate our village.”

“They have been well received?”

“Indeed they have, many are even now settling on empty lands and helping to restore farms.”

“Your Queendom will be prosperous again in no time.” Pleasantries exchanged she made her next point.

“And you were forced to battle with elves and fairies the Captain tells me?”

“Yes your Majesty. Many of the creatures.”

She leaned in to me in a slightly uncomfortable way, and drew in a long, deep breath. 

“A great many.” She whispered in a frighteningly hungry kind of way. “Do you think there are any left?” 

“I couldn’t say your Majesty.” And I couldn’t. I stood quite still, acutely aware of her fangs and her wide eyes. Though Breandon had died, he might have other confederates ready to come through the portal, despite Brigant’s best efforts.

“And I understand your servant proved himself quite the warrior.” She moved away from me and circled Jankin; I tried to hide the sudden anxiety that she would discover him.

“You honor me your Majesty.” He whispered, not making eye contact with her. If she were to try to glamour him, and then realize it wasn’t possible he would be in grave danger.

“Nonsense. Captain Alcide said that you took down elves on your own.” Her voice was almost a purr. She brushed her fingertips across his chest and over his shoulders. I could hear Jankin’s heart speed up. She could too, but she likely expected that reaction, probably sought it out.

“The praise is most generous.” He stuttered.

“He smells a little of you Sheriff.” She turned her attention away from him and back to me. I had anticipated that question.

“It was necessary to give him some of my blood, he was injured fighting the Fairies.” She glanced back at him then returned to me. Giving blood to a human was a Vampire’s prerogative, but it said something about the human. 

“And you did not come back to the castle then, where he could have been attended to?”

“We were unable to travel quickly without rousing the suspicion of the former hostages.” I answered, another truth.

“Sensible.” She walked back up to her large table, and beckoned me to join her. She had maps spread out over it.

“This is where Alcide told me the fortification was, around here?” She stabbed her index finger against the vellum.

“Yes.” I agreed.

“And these lands here?” She brushed her hand along the far ridge of the gorge where the topography showed the change in elevation.

“Wild lands.”

“That could certainly use the rule of law I believe.”

“Under your capable hand.”

“And the condition of this fortification you discovered?”

“Very stable, from what I could see of it.”

“Safe enough for our kind?” She meant Vampire kind, would there be defensible, light tight areas for daytime rests.

“I would expect so, it is solid stone, and surrounded by the hillsides, which provide many natural opportunities.”

“Excellent. I think I shall send Godric and some men out to explore it properly. An outpost seems to me to be exactly what I need.”

“A wise decision your Majesty.” And indeed it was. If the portal did remain open at that location no Fairy would dare use it, not when making the crossing would place them squarely into a nest of Vampires. The Queen might yet get her own morsel to devour, if Godric and his men could be in control of themselves. 

“And what of your plans Sheriff?”

“I remain in your service.” And I bowed my head respectfully. 

“Your loyalty inspires a greater role I think.”

“Your Majesty?”

“As Godric will be my eyes and hands over the wild lands, I would have you as my hand here.”

“You do me a great honor.”

“One you are well suited for.” She had not stopped smiling at me. “Perhaps you will send Godric in as you retire? I expect he is outside the doors, listening in to what I am saying, as best he can.”

I did not think Godric would be pleased with what Sophie-Ann was likely to sell to him as a promotion, he would see it as something else entirely, and my new position as a direct threat. Whatever else he was, he was devoted to her, and being supplanted at her side, without having control over the Vampire that did it, (for I now believed that the blood had been his), would mean I had one more thing to watch out for. Not that I was generally in the habit of believing myself completely safe from harm at any time, it was the fastest way to meet the true death.

“She is ready for you.” I told him as we exited her hall, he had been waiting, trying to look as casual as he could with his blood boiling in his gut. Jankin and I continued back to my rooms. I had a great deal more to think about suddenly. 

ooOOoo

I went through my door first, Jankin followed me, and I heard him bolt it securely as I swung off my cloak, and tossed it over a solid oaken chair. I looked at the two blades, still unsheathed on my table, and wondered for just a second if I shouldn’t attend to them first. But it was only one in a miriade of thoughts that competed for my attention, chief among them, the pressing hands that lighted on my shoulders, urging me to spin around. I met Jankin’s hungry mouth with my own, wishing just then nothing more than to be lost in the scent of him and the warmth of his body, and the insistence of his fingers that pulled at my hems as urgently as I pulled at his.

In a moment I had his borrowed shirt pulled from his chest, and I ran my fingers through this short dark, spiky hair, finding his lips parted for me, his tongue ready to dance with mine. My fangs dropped, but even in my passions I guided his tender flesh around them, not wishing, not needing to taste his blood too soon, for fear of losing myself in the delights it promised. The beautiful noises that escaped his throat as I held him to me gave nearly as intoxicating a haze. He broke away only long enough to gasp a breath and forced himself back to me, curling his fingers against my skin, so careful not to scratch me, as much as I wanted to feel it from him. I wanted to feel it all.

His body was warm where mine was cold, but he knew the feel of it, having been wrapped against me for many hours over the last two days and nights. He could not let his hands be still, and I felt them move with urgent force over my skin, from grasping my shoulders, to crisscrossing my back, to coming to rest at the waistband of my pants, fingertips pulling against them. I did not resist as he slipped them from me, I only tensed my muscles as they were suddenly thrust against him. I could not restrain myself, and so I coaxed him out of his pants until we both stood before each other, in the last of the firelight’s embers, both able to see and feel exactly what we wanted, even if it wasn’t wholly with our eyes. 

“Lay down cariad?” He whispered to me, and even though I still did not know the language he was speaking to me, the tone of his voice was enough to understand. I sat, then lay on the bed, never taking my eyes off the intensity in his. I could not hold back the rush of blood that had made me aching and hard, but it was no different than his own betrayed body. I closed my eyes and let myself feel the warmth of his breath as he came to hover over me, brushing his lips from mine, down my neck, across my chest with a deliberate slowness that was beyond enticing. I held myself in check against flipping him over and grinding myself against him until I was completely satisfied. The heat of his tongue began to circle my nipples even as his strong fingers reached down and grasped me firmly, pulling my own gasp from my throat as I arched against what had been unexpected. I felt the tremor of his laughter against my chest as his hand went to work. Instead of clutching at him I had to twine my fingers into the bedclothes, for fear of hurting him again in my zeal.

My lips fell open, my hips bucked to meet his touch, and his hand took powerful charge of my arousal, forcing the trickle of blood tears from my eyes and cries from my chest as he brought me to the very edge of the precipice, and then dragged me over it into an oblivion I did not soon want to find my way out of. It was a great while before I came to my complete senses once again. His self-satisfied grin did not last for long, or rather, it was briefly banished, but only after a great deal of play on my part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The secret of who Jankin was based on is coming soon. Any guesses?


	13. Chapter 13

His excitement was still obvious as I rolled to face him atop the coverlet of my bed, he was trying not to make his breathing obvious, but his chest was still throbbing in a rise and fall of unrequited passions, and the tension was written across the muscles in his chest and his hands. I slid forward languidly, purposefully towards him, taking his square jaw tenderly between my long fingers, and coaxing him towards my mouth, where I brushed his skin with my own, my tongue whetting his lips in long strokes, encouraging him to part for me, and allow me the unencumbered entrance to his delicious mouth. As he did I let my hand run carefully down his side, deliberately not kneading the flesh or guiding him into any position but a relaxed one. I hoped it was slowly beginning to drive him crazy. He had made me lose control, and I intended exactly the same for him; at my pace. My fangs were still run out, but the speed with which I took his mouth, (and he yielded it to me) afforded no danger.

I pushed my chest against his and felt his breathing. His steady heartbeat gave me the pace to continue my ministrations across his skin. My mouth traced down his jaw line, the tip of my tongue leaving a shiny trail across the solid bone. I felt his trembling. I increased the pressure of my fingers against the hard flesh over his hip, sliding over his buttocks to cup the glorious curve and pull his pelvis to mine, eliciting a moan, and the arching of his neck against the sensation I allowed him. My fingers curved between the globes, and I felt his heart skip the same breath his chest had as I stroked across him. He pushed back against me, increasing the pressure with a moan falling from his lips. It was my turn to laugh, just quietly, as I kissed his collarbone. 

“Please?” He whispered. I pulled my hand back, not to be cruel, but to rest on his hips again where I pushed in order to guide him onto his back, where my hands would have wider range to tease him. Still braced on one elbow I guided my hand to the inside of his thigh, and eased his legs apart, giving my fingers the chance to tuck nearly under him, to again caress the tender, nerve filled area beneath and between, his continued moans and the spiked tension across his pelvis driving me.

I purposely kept my fingers away from the true object of his arousal, loving the game and not wanting it to end too soon. Control was something that I had lost; to Godric, to Sophie-Anne, even to Jankin and his concealed plans. I intended to take it back. I came to half hover over him, so that I still had free reign over what I let my hand do, but remained in a position that also kept his body from moving too much. I returned my attentions to kissing him, as I stroked him, drawing my fingers from his most intimate place to the tightened muscles of his sac, a cool touch that made him jump, his hips driving into mine in a delightful way. I was becoming engorged again as well, our two members brushed against each other. His skin was so hot.

Finally I let my fingers drift onto him, and it drew such a beautiful cry that it was almost impossible to keep myself from letting go. But I held it together, bringing my face back to the angular curve of his neck, drinking in his scent deeply as I began to run my palm against him. 

“Take my blood, please?” he whispered on a hesitant breath.

“Not yet.” I replied, knowing that if I tasted him again in that way that it would bring a premature end to my pleasure, and perhaps to his as well. I waited, still stroking him, as his muscles began to contract, and his hips to twitch against me. I could feel every held breath, and with each one I increased my pressure against him. 

“Eric.” The word stumbled past his lips and I felt him give himself up to me, and only as I had that control, did I finally bite into his neck. It was not in a cruel way, but certainly possessive. As his blood flowed so did I, and so did he, pressing our flesh together as if we were one, which perhaps in that moment, we were. When I pulled my mouth away I held him until his body quieted, and for a good time past that, letting it warm me from the outside as his blood warmed me from within.

ooOOoo

I bid him sleep, he was exhausted and I still had the swords and the fire to attend to. Reluctantly, he drew a blanket around his waist, and took a pillow for under his head, leaving me the view of his chest, rising and falling slowly. His eyelids were heavy, but he fought their urgency. I put more wood on the fire, so the room would remain warm for as long as possible into the day, I knew that sleeping beside me would afford him no such comfort, but I did not want him to leave, even though he had made motions to the same when I had finally released him from my hold. I had asked him to stay, and he had acquiesced, though I do not think it would have taken more persuasion than my invitation.

I did not bother with a blanket or a nightshirt as I took to my tasks, his blood, and our play had left me warm. I saw to his blade first, taking the excess oil from it with a clean cloth then examining the four edges by the firelight. I was still captivated by its design, nearly as much as I was with the man who wielded it. It showed no damage at all, and I wondered if it was somehow enchanted against such things. The blade was sharp enough still to cut the cloth I took to its edges, and my palm but for my care in handling it. Pleased with my work I sheathed it and put it aside on the table. My own blade had not fared so well. It required honing, and I took the steel to it with broad strokes, disturbed from my work only by the motion of Jankin, who had risen from my bed, and come to stand behind me. His arms wrapped around me with some hesitation, but I softened into his embrace, which only brought him closer. His body was yielding.  
“You take such care with the blade?” He observed quietly, kissing my shoulder tenderly.

“It has lasted five hundred years because of my care, I hope it will last five hundred more.” He stiffened for a moment at the mention of my age. My words seemed to have injected a serious note into the evening, and sadly, not for the only time.

“What will happen now Eric, now that you are the hand of the Queen?” His voice became the quiet, hesitant one of nights passed.

I sheathed my own sword then, and laid it beside his, contemplating my answer as much as the hands that remained pressed against my abdomen.

“A great deal more politics I imagine, and counsels, and audiences.” I sighed, a human throwback that seemed appropriate just then. “I imagine I will take leadership over all the warriors now, Vampire and Were together as Godric did.”

“And what of Godric?”

“That remains to be seen.” His hands slid down over my hips. I closed my eyes for a moment to feel him.

“As I see it,” I continued, “There are two possibilities. Either he will accept the Queen’s wishes with grace, and take up his new post with due care and attention, expanding the Queen’s territories. Or he will see it as a dismissal from her presence, and will act as the petulant child does.”

“A thousand year old petulant child with fangs.” Jankin muttered. I could not disagree with the sentiment.

“Sophie-Anne’s power has always been that she can keep her children with her. She inspires great loyalty in those with whom she has shared her blood.”

“By their own volition?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not? I cannot say.” It was another reason I had not wanted to chance drinking the contents of the phial Godric had given me.

“And if he decides that you are at fault for his being removed from the court?”

“Then I imagine he will send his agents against me. It remains to be seen.” I set my hands firmly against the table, and it bore the heavy weight of my body and my heart.

“And what about us?”

“Being close to me may not afford you the protection it once did. When it becomes common knowledge that we are lovers,” I paused, wondering if I should have censored myself before making that open pronouncement. But it was too late, and I truly did not regret the words. I finally turned in his arms, looking straight into eyes that could not help but show a little fear, sparkling with the tears of sleep. “You will be an easier target for them. But perhaps they will understand the price of harming you long before they make any attempts.” I let my fangs run out, and then I kissed him hard on the mouth. 

“I will not tolerate threats to those who are mine.” I whispered to him.

“You think I am yours?” I watched his brow wrinkle in front of me.

“You are mine.” I clutched around his back, pulling his body against me, knowing he could not break my grip, even with all of my blood that still ran in his body. I smiled at him, fangs gleaming, “You are mine, just as much as I am yours.” And I took his mouth again. With understanding, he held me as well. The taste of him was intoxicating. It would have been so easy to lose myself in him again just then, but there were more things I needed to tell him.

“There is a option for you though Jankin, should you not wish to face any danger here.”

“And what is that?”

“Brigant has offered you a place in his realm. He came again to speak with me, before I left the cave this evening passed. The portal will remain open for you there. He has promised his protection.” Jankin was silent for a moment, thinking over what I had said. He was a great deal like me in those ways, examining the truth of a statement, and its implications before speaking.

“But for me alone, yes?”

“Yes, I am not welcome there.”

“Then I cannot go.” He sighed. Part of me was very happy to hear that pronouncement.

“Do not discount it entirely Jankin, it will be a safe place if things become too dangerous here. I will not lose you to intrigue or stubbornness if I can help it.”

“What? You would take me there by force and toss me through would you Eric?”

“If it came to that, yes I would.” I grinned at him.

“Then we must hope that it does not.”

“Yes, we must.” I could feel his arousal growing against me again; spurred on by our naked bodies close against each other. He most certainly had my blood in him, or perhaps it was the fairy half, but he matched me in appetites that night. I wanted to lose myself in his fingertips and his mouth.

“I want to take more of your blood.” He whispered as he reached for me.

“It is too soon Jankin.”

“Too soon?” Again, my words gave him pause.

“We have shared a great deal over just a few nights, if we were to do so again we could risk forming a bond that you may not yet be prepared for.” 

“What does it mean, this bond?” He stepped back from me. For an instant I missed his warmth. And though I felt a strong urge not to hurt him again with thoughtless words, I knew he had to have the truth from me. 

“It means sharing an even greater intimacy Jankin. I will understand how you are feeling whenever I am awake. I will be aware of you no matter where you are, and when we are apart I will ache for you. You will be able to feel me in your mind as well, and you will do more than see my emotions, you will feel the depths of my passions, good and bad. You will feel the true blackness in my soul, and you may not be able to distinguish it from your own feelings when it is very strong within me. I fear that you may lose yourself, not knowing if the anger or sadness that you feel is your own, or mine.” Of course, the reverse was true as well, though just then I still saw Jankin in the glow of our passions, I had not stopped to consider that he himself most likely had a dark side. Perhaps I just did not wish to have to consider it.

“But not everything about this bond can be so dire, can it?”

“No, not at all, sharing the comfort of each other’s presence, understanding the passions of arousal and desire, they are wonderful things.”

“You have shared this bond before?”

“I have not. It is not a thing to be entered into lightly, for once forged to break it is a terrible thing for both parties. And if one was to break it by death as I understand, the other would be overwhelmed with such despair as I cannot describe.”

I looked into his blue eyes, willing him to understand my sincerity. Things were too uncertain. I could not risk it, for both our sakes, and I needed him to know that my refusal was not cruelty or selfishness.

“I am sorry.” I whispered as I caressed his downfallen face. “We will share blood again, but give it some time my lover.” I felt the butterfly tremble on his skin as I said the word to him again.

“There is a great deal that I do not know about you Eric.”

“And that I do not know about you Jankin. But there are ways of making up for that.” I kissed him again then, willing that truth to push away the serious nature our conversation had taken. After a moment I could feel him responding to me in kind, and his heart began to speed again as he allowed himself to follow me into more joyous pursuits. We began to touch each other carefully in the heat of the firelight.

As he drew his lips over my skin he whispered to me again in the language that I did not know. But that time I stopped him.

“What does it mean Jankin, Dwi’n caru ti cariad? I don’t understand.” I closed my eyes and let myself simply hear his deep voice vibrating against me.

“It is the language of my father. Cariad, it means sweetheart.” 

“And the other?” He paused, casting his eyes downwards, whispering his answer on a breath.

“It means I love you.”


End file.
